Finding Purpose in the Seemingly Meaningless <EM>Golf, the myth of sisyphus, and what we can learn from both</EM>
I was recently reading James Hollis’ “What Matters Most” - a sort of recap of many of his prior writings, but also a truly great read on, obviously, what matters most in life.
I was also on a golf trip with some friends over the past 4 days, to Whistling Straits, a championship golf course in Sheboygan, Wisconsin.
It’s a special place. It’s gorgeous. And it’s incredibly, painfully difficult.
And it got me thinking about Hollis’ discussion of Albert Camus’ interpretation of “The Myth of Sisyphus”.
What do Golf and an Ancient Greek myth have in common?
The myth of Sisyphus is one of the most compelling and thought-provoking tales from Greek mythology. Condemned to an eternity of rolling a boulder up a hill only to watch it roll back down again, Sisyphus's plight seems like the epitome of futility.
In Camus' existentialist take on the myth, “The Myth of Sisyphus”, there lies a profound insight: Sisyphus, despite his eternal punishment, finds a way to smile.
This paradoxical image of a man condemned to a meaningless task but somehow finding purpose and happiness within it challenges our traditional notions of what it means to live a meaningful and happy life.
“Golf is a good walk spoiled.”
This is what I was thinking about while golfing.
Golf, at least for me, often feels like the most futile endeavour. It is difficult, mentally and physically taxing, and frankly, feels pretty pointless most of the time. As the old saying goes, “Golf is a good walk spoiled”.
And yet, it’s pleasurable. Despite my own many, many vain attempts at trying to put a tiny white ball into a cup on a field of very shortly cut grass, I enjoy it. I score poorly. I get upset with myself. I sweat. And yet, I enjoy it.
Why? Ask Camus.
Finding Purpose in the Seemingly Meaningless
Camus suggests that Sisyphus finds purpose in his work, not through the completion of his task but through the very act of doing it.
In other words, meaning is not inherent but created through our actions and attitudes.
Like my umpteenth stroke on 18 holes of golf, Sisyphus's endless labor is a metaphor for the human condition. Life itself, with its repetitive routines and inevitable challenges, can often feel like an uphill battle with no lasting victory. However, the essence of finding purpose lies not in the final outcome but in the process.
In golf, that process might be the walk itself. The game of golf is not spoiling the walk, but rather, simply something entirely extraneous to it that you happen to be doing. But the joy is in the walk - in enjoying the weather (whatever it might be), in taking in nature (no matter how manicured it is), and, in savouring the company of friends (even when they are slightly unkind about my golf skills).
The Smile on Sisyphus’s Face
In his essay, Camus writes, "The struggle itself towards the heights is enough to fill a man's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy." This notion shifts the focus from achieving a final, perfect state of being to embracing the journey. It’s in the relentless push, the persistence in the face of inevitability, that Sisyphus carves out a space for his own meaning.
“The struggle itself towards the heights is enough to fill a man’s heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.”
By smiling, Sisyphus asserts his own freedom and agency. Like the golfer who laughs off a bad stroke or a triple bogey (and trust me, it is hard to laugh this off), Sisyphus chooses to find joy in his situation, refusing to let his punishment define his emotional state. His smile is a declaration that he controls his inner world, even if he cannot control the external circumstances. In other words, attitude is a choice and we can choose how we react to our circumstances, even when its raining, our feet are soaking wet, and you are putting for a 10.
Modern psychology echoes this in the concept of "eudaimonic" well-being, which contrasts with "hedonic" well-being. While hedonic well-being focuses on pleasure and the avoidance of pain, eudaimonic well-being is about finding meaning and self-realization.
Harvard’s Grant Study, one of the longest-running studies on human development, similarly suggests that happiness is less about material success and more about relationships and finding purpose in life. Participants who found deep satisfaction in their connections with others and in meaningful activities reported higher levels of happiness, regardless of their wealth or status.
Martin Seligman’s PERMA model (Positive Emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and Accomplishment) suggests that a fulfilling life is not solely about pleasure but also about being engaged in activities, having strong social connections, finding meaning, and achieving goals.
And research by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi on "flow" states highlights how deep engagement in an activity can lead to profound happiness. Flow occurs when one is fully immersed in a task that challenges their skills, leading to a sense of timelessness and fulfillment.
Sisyphus, in his ceaseless labor rolling a stone up a hill, and certain golfers (aka Me) may well experience such a state of flow, where the act of pushing the boulder/hitting the ball becomes a deeply engaging and satisfying activity even if there is a striking lack of pleasure in it.
In Conclusion
First, embrace the journey. If we can shift our view from one of seeking a perfect state (i.e. the hole in one) and instead find meaning in the process, we can create a sense of purpose that sustains us, even when the game isn’t going so well (or well at all).
Second, we should focus on what we can control: our attitude and our response to circumstances. Just like Sisyphus, in golf, there is truly very little we can control. A golf club travels at an extreme rate of speed as it approaches contact with the ball and to expect that we can control every aspect of that in each swing is ridiculous. But, we can control how we respond to each instance in which our swing, the club (and the ball), don’t do what we want them to.
Engagement, persistence, and the attitude we bring to each moment: three points of focus with which we can transform our own Sisyphean tasks (including, but not limited to, golf) into sources of joy and meaning, just as Sisyphus does with his boulder.
