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A Swing and a Prayer

The AA sponsor and sponsee met for coffee.  The sponsee had his Big Book; the sponsor had his laptop with all his AA material.

They were on Step Eleven, discussing how to set up for the day.  The sponsor outlined his morning checklist of meditation, prayer, and reviewing the day ahead, all taken from the Big Book, page 86.

The sponsee commented that meditation, prayer and a careful review of the day ahead would take a lot of time; it seemed excessive, that the time spent could be more productive.

The sponsor turned to his laptop, typed a few commands, waited momentarily, studied the screen and then turned the computer to face the sponsee. 

He had opened his Chat Artificial Intelligence program and asked, “How much time does a golfer take to set up a drive and how much time does the swing take? What is the ratio of these times?

The answer was, “The setup includes getting into position, aligning the body, and assessing the shot, which may take a few seconds to a minute.

A full golf swing typically lasts 1.5 to 2 seconds from the backswing start to the follow-through.  The ratio of these times is between three to one and thirty to one.

The sponsor gave the sponsee some time to read the reply and said, “A good golf shot requires preparation. 

“It takes time to get ready to do anything.  Your day is at least as important as a golf swing.  So taking time to get it right is productive time.”

The sponsor continued, “This reminds me of the story about Saint Francis of Assisi. 

“Saint Francis was a busy guy; he built a worldwide order within the Catholic church; it was a big job.  One day, walking through the abbey, another monk asked, ‘Brother Francis, how goes it with you this day?’

“The apocryphal reply was, ‘I am so busy and put upon with questions and issues; I have so many decisions and difficulties before me, I must meditate two hours each day instead of my usual one.’

“Saint Francis would have been a good golfer; he understood the value of set-up time.”

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