“Relationships are worth fighting for. But you can’t be the only one fighting. – Unknown”
I’ve really run the gamut of relationships lately. Or perhaps it would be better to say that I’ve run the gauntlet.
I’ve had people very publicly and persistently attack me with very
nasty and unwarranted comments. I’ve had people completely shut me out
of their lives because I refused to have a relationship completely on
their terms. I’ve felt betrayed on many occasions. I’ve even had people
give generously to me, but with the expectation that I reciprocate, thus
putting unnecessary stress and expectations on me.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m blessed with many wonderful relationships.
But I also have many that I would prefer to do without. Even the bad
ones, however, have taught me some important lessons about
relationships. Here are my top three lessons learned from unpleasant
people.
1) You are not responsible for anyone else’s feelings.
I have someone who takes everything I do personally. No matter how
innocuous my action or comment, they almost always take it as a personal
attack and respond emotionally or with anger. At first, it was
incredibly upsetting to me, because I don’t want to be constantly
hurting people, even if I’m doing so unintentionally. However, I finally
had to learn that how they interpreted my actions was not my
responsibility. My job was to be as kind and level-headed as I could. If
they chose to take that poorly that simply was not my fault, and I
could not blame myself for it.
2) Other’s opinions don’t matter nearly as much as you think they do.
Eleanor Roosevelt once famously said that “no one can make you feel
inferior without your consent.” This is something I struggled with for a
long time. “But they’re being so horrible to me!” I’d argue internally.
“They hate me! How can I be ok with that??” The truth is, however, that
for every person who dislikes you, there’s another person who thinks
the world of you. And I would argue that the reverse is also true – for
every person who holds you in high esteem, there will be another who
couldn’t care less about you. Eventually, I had to accept that I will
never get everyone to like me. I had to learn to like myself, appreciate
the people who appreciate me and let everyone else’s comments roll off
of me like water on a duck’s back.
3) Guilt or obligation is not an appropriate initiator of relationship.
This is a really big one for me. I have a lot of people in my life
who are constantly trying to guilt me into a relationship with them
because we’re family, we’ve known each other for a long time, etc. As
someone who has a very strong sense of loyalty, it’s difficult for me to
ignore those pleas. However, the sad fact of the matter is that no
matter how close you should be in an ideal world to someone, sometimes
it simply isn’t a healthy relationship.
Rather than caving to their guilt trips, a far healthier thing is to
make your opinions known. Tell them what you will and won’t tolerate,
and if they cross your boundary put some space between you and them. As
I’ve done this, I’ve experienced the opposing emotions of sadness and
relief. Sadness at the loss of what could have been, but mostly giddy
relief at the knowledge that such toxic people no longer have full
access to me and my emotions.
Life is all about how you look at it. What happens to you doesn’t
matter so much as how you interpret it. You can let people push you
around by manipulating your emotions with their guilt trips and unkind
words. Or you can choose to ignore it and keep living your wonderful,
amazing life. You won’t be able to stop the actions of others, but you
can definitely change how they affect you!
“In trying to please all, he had pleased none.” ― Aesop, Aesop’s Fables
‘Traditional’ probably isn’t a word that anyone would use to describe me.
If there’s anything I’ve learned over the course of my life, it is
that breaking away from the perceived ‘norm’ can be difficult. But I’ve
also learned that living life a certain way just to please people is
nothing short of a death sentence.
Thankfully, I learned that lesson relatively early-on in life.
As a younger man, I did everything I could to live like everyone else
thought I should. This gained me a small bit of approval from my elders
and peers (which I craved for the temporary feelings of happiness and
inclusion it provided), but it ultimately filled me with emptiness on
the inside.
The fact of the matter was that I wasn’t being true to myself—and as a
result, I ended up bitter, resentful, and angry toward everything that
my ‘normal’ life had become.
Eventually, I hit emotional rock-bottom. I found myself so
disappointed and disheartened at my existence that I could barely summon
the energy to get out of bed in the morning.
In my mind, I was quickly running out of reasons to continue living.
Any shred of happiness that I had once possessed was gone. This confused
me, because I was making decent money, and had what most people would
consider a ‘good’ life.
But it all felt forced, empty, and meaningless.
The problem was that I wanted something different. But other people in my life encouraged me to live the way they
thought I should live—and I found myself second-guessing my own
passions and ambitions when this happened. I wanted them to be happy
with me. I wanted respect and admiration from my friends, family, and
community.
I wanted their approval.
But in trying to please them and make them proud, I was effectively abandoning everything that meant anything to me.
Instead of living my life and finding my own way, I had become a clone.
My life had become a carbon-copy of the status quo, with nothing
original or different to set it apart from anyone else’s.
There was nothing left in it for me. I felt misplaced—like my life wasn’t even my life anymore.
So about last year, I began to change. But I soon learned that I
could not become my true self without letting go of my deep-seated need
to please other people.
This was surprisingly difficult for me—but I quickly learned that
breaking away from this mentality and living life on my own terms could
be as liberating as it was stimulating.
I also found that doing so enabled me to love myself more—which also
made me better at loving other people, despite our differences.
I quit my ‘safe’ K.P.L.C job to become a better person. This
got me away from a work situation that felt hopeless and allowed me to
pursue something that I cared about.
I rejected materialism, and my family (my amazing daughter) and I began to practice minimalism. This completely
transformed the way we spent money and managed our possessions.
These changes (and others) led me from a life of confusion, endless
repetition, and personal emptiness, to a life of intentionality,
passion, and ultimately… self-fulfillment.
But it wasn’t always easy—and I quickly learned that I had to leave
behind my concerns for what other people thought of me in order to
become who I truly wanted (and needed) to be.
Over the course of my life, I’ve learned many lessons pertaining to
this struggle. But when it comes to trying to please other people, here
are the 3 that stick out to me as the most important. 1.You may only get one chance at this life… so why live it to satisfy the opinions of others?
Your life is far too important to spend living to please other
people. Yes, we should love others, conduct ourselves peacefully, and do
everything we can to maintain positive relationships. But never, under
any circumstances, should we allow the mere opinions of the people
around us to dictate how we live our lives.
Be the ‘you’ that you truly desire to become. Live life on your terms. Take the chances that you want to take, and become the best version of yourself that you can possibly be. 2.People who judge other people are often unhappy themselves
Open-mindedness and acceptance are generally the signs of a genuine,
authentic, and intentional life. On the flipside, judgment and
closed-mindedness are usually symptoms of a life devoid of happiness,
self-worth, and idealistic integrity.
By this logic, trying to appease the closed-minded people around you
is akin to cutting off one of your own arms just because everyone else
decided to do so.
Don’t restrict yourself based on the limited viewpoints of the people
around you. Stop forcing yourself to overlook your own potential. Don’t
allow the opinions of other people to keep you from living the best and
most authentic life possible.
It’s your life—and if people don’t agree that you have a
right to make your own choices (and encourage you to do so), then you
would probably do well to stop listening to what they have to say.
Interestingly, I noticed that when I stopped living to please other
people, a lot of my friends ended up rejecting me. But I also noticed
that new people began to show up in my life—new friends who were also
authentic, real, and genuine.
I now have an amazing, incredible network of friends in my life who are open-minded and accepting of me for who I am—and I now have a greater sense of community in my life than I’ve ever experienced before. 3.At the end of your life, you’ll regret not living the way you really wanted
This is probably the realization that has given me the most courage. I
never want to end up on my deathbed wishing that I had done something
differently. I never want to look back and feel that I missed out on
life because I was too afraid to take a different path.
When I reach the end of my journey in this world, I want to look back
and know that I lived my life to the fullest extent possible. I want to
know that I left nothing to chance and that I seized every possible
opportunity.
But most of all, I want to know that I wasn’t held back by fear.
I want to look back on my life and know, without a doubt, that I was
strong enough and brave enough to live on my own terms—regardless of
whether or not the people around me disapproved.
What lessons have you learned about trying to please other
people? I would love to hear about them and learn from your experiences
as well… so please feel free to leave a comment.
A man has 4 different types of girls.. 1.Wifey 2.Baby Girl 3.Side Piece 4.Jump Off
1)Wifey is the sexiest, most successful and most respected of all the women. She is loved, needed and wanted by her man...she is VIRTUALLY IRREPLACEABLE. She is the girl that the guy loves and will always love, he never wants to see her with another man...BUT he will cheat on her with Baby Girl until he is mature enough to realize that if he gets caught or fucks up in any way and loses Wifey, he would be screwed, and NEVER be happy again. Wifey gets along with mom, is independent, never nags, loves to dress sexy for her man, can cook and loves to keep a clean house. Wifey gets called 5 or 6 times a day. Drawback of Wifey, she loves public displays of affection... which might intefere with the acquisition of a Side Piece. 2)Baby Girl is ALWAYS just as hot as wifey and usually has a very active social life...she IS replaceable, thinks she's the next Wifey, but will only be Wifey if an extreme disaster takes place. Baby Girl gets some of the benefits of Wifey, like quality time every now and then and even presents on birthdays and holidays, but thats as far as it goes. The main reason to have Baby Girl is in case Wife really really fucks up, she can be replaced in a matter of weeks because Baby Girl has been groomed to slip right into her spot. Be careful of Baby Girl, she tends to be just as attached as Wifey and therefore can be dangerous to the Side Piece. Biggest benefit of Baby Girl...she is extremely private and hates causing a scene, baby girl can come into the same restaurant as you and wifey and wifey will have no idea you two even know each other. Baby Girl is a master of disguise as well.
3)Side Piece, usually a female that the guy uses only for sex other pleasures, she is usually the one that he goes to for that 3some or some late night head after the club. When Wifey is acting up and Baby Girl is at work, the Side Piece is usually the one to hold him over for a few hrs. He can meet with the Side Piece for reasons other than sex, but normally that only happens one week during the month. Side Pieces are hard to spot when they are out because most of her friends are either Wifey's or Jump Offs. Drawback of having more than one side piece, they usually know each other somehow...we kinda think there is a side piece network.com or something. Try to keep your side piece count below 4 if possible.
4)Jump Off...every mans dream and worst nightmare. She is trying to move up in life, wants to be a Side Piece or Wifey but doesnt know how to go about it.They are just the girls he hollas at when he is with his boys...she is usually stored in the cell phone by a nickname because he barely remembers her real name and where he met her...he only recalls how fat her ass was. The Jump Off gets called in emergencies only, when wifey is moody, baby girl is on vacation and side piece is with her baby's father. The Jump Off is extremely dangerous in public for a number of reasons, she is usually 5 other guys jump off as well, so she might cause drama with you and one of those dudes if you slip up, she also has no problem confronting you in the mall when you are with Wifey (something that baby girl would NEVER do) and the most dangerous thing about Jump Off...she ALWAYS seems to find out where you live and or work.
Some women accept to be friends with benefits (FWB) with a man they just meet, in the hope this would lead to a real relationship after some time. But according to a study of 191 people involved with a FWB, only 15% got into a romantic relationship after one year, while 28% were back into being just friends, and 31% didn’t have any relationship at all with their FWB. 26% remained FWB.
15% is a low score for an eventual relationship. It’s far from what Hollywood make us believe about the outcome of FWB.
So there’s a lot of disappointment ahead for those who hope for a romantic relationship out of a FWB.
But what is being friends with benefits? In general, it’s an agreement when the partners don’t want an exclusive relationship and allow themselves to see other people. There are not really feelings involved.
In such case, it’s difficult to start a relationship from this point. Because when you start to see other people without commitment with your FWB, it may lead to jealousy ahead when you start seeing each other exclusively. You can’t just brush away the immediate past of you FWB.
Yet, some people still have hope about a romantic relationship out of a FWB.
“One of my friends met a chic on Tinder two months ago, after the end of his long term relationship. At the beginning, they were just FWB, but it has evolved into a real relationship because he recently introduced her to us” one of my friends says.
I’ve noticed women who accept to be FWB often went out of a long term relationship or a marriage just before. It’s a kind of compromise, just like casual dating. Except there’s no sex involved in casual dating.
Some people think having sex with other people can help them to forget their ex. Yet, when the breakup is too close from your new FWB, it may not help as you may have your ex still under your skin. It’s the same if you start right away a new relationship. It depends on people.
And even if you’ve been FWB for years, coping with the breakup of a long term relationship isn’t that easy.
The lesson here is to not hope too much from a FWB. After all, the study shows you have a better chance to become just friends or remain FWB than to have a romantic relationship.
And it’s not a rule to be FWB. You always have the choice.
In the world of dating, equality between sexes doesn’t really apply. Every woman I know expects the guy to pay the bill at the restaurant on the first date, and even on the next dates. It’s the part of the courtship. And even if we are in the 21st century, men are still expected to lead the courtship.
Many women told me if a guy lets them pay or offer them to go dutch, they think their date doesn’t want any commitment or are just stingy. One of them even told me she thinks the guy hates women in general, but can’t really be alone. In that case, why doesn’t the guy turn to prostitutes?
“If they don’t pay, it just means they are not interested” one of them said.
In fact, it depends. One of my friends hates dates for that reason. “I hate going to the restaurant and think about sharing or paying the bill at the end with my significant other. It’s a nightmare. Fortunately, I met him through friends during a BBQ, and he invited me at his place where he cooked a meal for me for the first time, and the next, and the next,… He doesn’t like to go to a restaurant that much, because he worked in many restaurants, and it reminds him of bad times” says one of my friends, who do agree to share the bill with me when we go out dinner together.
Another friend of mine told me he pays alternatively the bill with his significant other at the restaurant since their second date. “But I was a gentleman on the first date, I did pay the bill” he said.
My friend isn’t offended by the idea of having the bill paid by his significant other from time to time.
As for going dutch, some of my friends don’t agree because a date isn’t like going out with your friends.
Some guys think women are high maintenance or are stricken by the princess syndrome if they expect to have the bill paid every time at the restaurant. But all men don’t think that way.
I guess it can be a good indicator of your values if you don’t agree on who pays the bill at the restaurant during your dates. If you throw a temper tantrum because of the bill, it’s not a good sign. But at least, there’s an immediate reaction.
The worst, I think, it’s when one of two pays the bill, and the other holds grudge without saying anything. Like if the woman pays the bill, and the man thanks her for the dinner and the time they spent together, and then goes MIA for days.
So last night I talked to a girl I love for over an hour on phone and decided to write about this because she really challenged me and had to come out clean as well. Thanks Pearl Kiarie and here is what felt....
“I keep playing your part, but it’s not my scene ,Sitting, waiting, wishing – Jack Johnson
Recently, one of my acquaintances complained about her significant other, who doesn’t give her anything. “I keep on making plans for us to spend our time together, but she doesn’t propose anything to me and even refused some of my plans. I pay for everything while she is always reluctant to pay. I feel I’m constantly walking on eggs with her because she criticizes me a lot. And I feel stressed because I don’t know how she will act” she said.
This is a one sided relationship where my acquaintance is doing all the work while her significant other makes her feel worse than better about herself. Unfortunately, if this relationship continues like that, it’s ill-fated.
The only solution to this problem is to tell how you feel to your significant other, keeping one feeling by conversation. It’s not wise to remind your partner about past events, because it can fire back at you. I did that with my ex, and she told me I should have told her right away there was a problem with her instead of bringing her that topic three weeks later. As a result, she brushed off my feelings and I felt diminished. But it’s not that easy to react right away.
One of my friends told me she can’t react right away. She only pulls back and doesn’t answer her phone for hours, even if her significant other tries to call her. “After some time, I reply, and he asks what’s wrong. Usually, it helps me to find the words to tell him how I feel” she says. But this only works if your significant other do call you often. If he/she goes MIA for days, well, he/she won’t notice anything.
How do you know you’re in a one sided relationship? People don’t realize this right away. Especially if they are in love. In the six first months of a relationship, if we’re in love, all we want, is to spend our time with our partner. We don’t care about details.
If like my acquaintance, you always make the plans, you pay for everything, and make efforts to include your partner in your life while he/she makes no effort at all and doesn’t feel too excited to meet your friends and family, that’s the sign of a one sided relationship.
In other words, if your partner doesn’t give you much (of his/her time, of his/her heart, of his/her consideration), this is a one sided relationship.
Some people jump into relationships while they are emotionally unavailable, and don’t give that much to their new partner because of that. We can be emotionally unavailable after a break up or after an incident in our life.
Communication is the only way to break that cycle. If this situation continues even if you pointed out the lack of consideration to your partner, it’s hopeless.
In theory, we should never change who we are or what we want for the one we love. But in real life, it can happen we can adopt the personality of the person we are dating. Especially in the six first months of any long term relationship.
When we fall in love with someone, we fall for the person who holds the promise of changing our life. So it’s not impossible to adopt the personality of the one we love. If we find ourselves changing for a partner, maybe it’s because we want that change.
We may fall for someone who is different from us for that reason. But we are all different even if we share some common points. Because we have each a personal history, which makes us who we are.
That person we are attracted may seem different because he/she can have some features very different from us, like blue hair, a certain style, … or some crafts like hosting dinner parties, a knowledge about beers, a long list of travels, or whatever it may be.
But really, we are looking at those differences because we want to be that different. It’s a way of reinforce us in a sense.
I remind this story about an guy who falls in love with a woman who likes to swim with sharks, while he was afraid of water.
One of my friends told me she fell in love with a guy who didn't drink and was socially awkward, while she was a party girl. At first, he was positive influence for her. Because she stopped drinking and going out, she could focus on her work. And got a prize for it. But eventually, she got tired of him, because he didn't like to go out, while she wanted to have some social life.
In a way, it’s like an extroverted falls for an introverted. Many couples are like that.
The Bahai Beach Resort and Golf Club is located in Puerto Rico. The
resort’s slogan says that their place will be a haven of golf for you as
it will delight both your soul and spirit. The resort also offers
professional and apprenticeship program wherein you will be taught with
proper skills and techniques when it comes to playing golf. There are
many things that you can do at this golf club, and they offer great and
exotic courses that are certainly unique at their place alone.
Cabo Del Sol Golf Course
The Cabo Del Sol Golf Course offers a lot of golf experiences that
you can enjoy as they ensure that they have the best golf course design
and management for the highest US Standards of play. They have an ocean
and a desert course. The ocean course stretches more than a mile of the
craggy rock outcropping coastline. It has been dubbed for having the
“three finest finishing holes in all of the golf.” Meanwhile, there
desert course provides you with the ocean views from all of its 18
holes. This certain course combines the beauty of a mixture of desert
and ocean. The course differs in length from 4,810 to 7,100 undulating
greens.
Coober Pedy Opal Fields Golf Club
What makes Coober Pedy Opal Fields Golf Club unique? Well, you should
keep off the grass when you are playing since you could not even see
anything green to walk on. This golf course offers an 18-holes grassless
course that you can enjoy playing on. It has also been voted as one of
the top 10 unique courses in the world which give it a top spot on our
list of the 30 extremely exotic golf courses around the world too. It is
also considered as the only golf club in the world, which offers
reciprocal playing rights at the home of golf, St. Andrews in Scotland.
It is located 3.5km north of the town centre.
Danang Golf Course.
Designed by Greg Norman, this golf course is built on the soil of
China Beach. Fairways at the golf club are pretty generous and often
involved limited use of water and OB. However, if you take on a shot,
you must be careful so that you can go for pins on the bunkered and
undulating greens. The fairways are lined and long needle pines clearly
defines them, hence, you should be really careful not to miss your shot
as you might be prompted to take your shot at the sand and pine needles
just to get back to the game.
Elea Golf Club
The golf course offers excellent golf in what the management calls
“stunning setting.” It is located at the center of the Elea Estate in
Cyprus, the Elea Estate Golf Club have Par 71, 18-hole courses, all of
which are challenging. Designed by Sir Nick Faldo, this Mediterranean
masterpiece combines natural key features and relaxes you with the
Mediterranean beauty.
Falsterbo GolfKlubb
The golf club in Sweden has been played at since 1911. Of all the
gold clubs in the world, Falsterbo gives the most romantic aerial hand
drawing that you can ever imagine. It has been famous, not only in
Sweden but the world, because of its challenging 6-hole start. The first
hole at 450 yards is the longest par four on the course. Should there
be winds blowing left to right from Denmark, you will have a daunting
experience as balls will bound along the right. There is also a path
walk that cuts the course at mid-section. On its northern side, where
the fourth, fifth and eleventh holes are located have been well known to
be threatened by water due to the marshlands.
Firestone Overseas Golf Course
The Firestone Overseas Golf Course is a 9-hole golf course that is
very much available to the public. It is located just outside the
Monrovia, Liberia at the Firestone Rubber Plantation. However, the
course does not have real grass nor fairways that they can boast off.
Instead, what make them unique are their substitutes to these two.
Fairways are rough, and they call the supposed to be grass as “browns”
because of its colour and components. These Browns are composed of sand,
iron, oil, and ore since maintaining real grass are a bit expensive
compared to having these browns.
Himalayan Golf Course
Whenever you are in Nepal, you clearly should not miss the Himalayan
Golf Course as it boasts awe-inspiring mountain sceneries plus a great
game for golf with its unique and exotic golf course. The golf course
has been the place for the Nepal Surya Western Open, the 2nd biggest
golfing tour in Nepal, for the past 12 years. What makes it unique?
Perhaps it is their 6th whole as it had been previously chosen by the
world’s leading golf architects as one of the 80 unique holes in the
world. It is also the only nominated hole in Asia which can compete with
the road hole of St. Andrews, and the Par 3 16th of cypress point. The
sixth hole is also the only island hole to have been built on a natural
river.
Kauri Cliffs at Matauri Bay
David Harman constructed the entire golf course. It covers 7,119
yards/6,510 meters. The par 72 championship golf course can challenge
every skill level with its five sets of tees. There are 15 holes looking
over the Pacific Ocean with six of them played alongside cliffs
plunging into the sea. After it had been renovated by Reese Jones, there
were notable changes such as the 5th hole which became a short
drop-shot par three from its original long, uphill, forced carry par-3,
as well as tees addition on the 2nd and 9th holes. There is also a
renovated bunker on the fourth hole.
La Jenny
La Jenny was developed in 1993 and has been widened since 2009. If
you want to play and practice golf in a naturalist setting, then La
Jenny’s golf course is definitely for you as it is probably the only
place in Europe wherein you can play in such condition. There are six
real holes, which are four pars 3 and two pars 4. It includes water
hazard, the genuine driving range of 20 that stands including ten that
are perfectly sheltered.
Leopard Creek
Leopard Creek saw to it that lakes and small streams would be
diverted to create interesting golf strategies and scenic views. There
is, however, a golfing hazard that you need to consider at Leopard Creek
as their waters is a home to one of the creatures you do not wish to
associate yourself with… crocodiles. Aside from the crocodiles, you can
also get the chance to see hippos, buffalos, antelopes and elephants.
However, be assured that the golf course has been designed to protect
you and the game from these animals naturally. One of the most memorable
holes in Leopard’s Creek is their 505m par-5 13th hole since the green
is right at the edge of the Crocodile River yet 32 meters above water
level.
La Iguana Costa Rica Golf Course
This particular golf course in Costa Rica boasts of par-72 and is
designed by Ted Robinson. It has 18-holes in total and is located along
an exotic rainforest that gives you a great view of the ocean. There are
also golf guides available that will guide you along the way and lead
you to the highlights of their thrilling course. The La Iguana Costa
Rica Golf Course assures you that you will have a very worth it and
challenging game that is worthy of conquering.
Mission Hills Golf Club
A golfer’s dream at the paradise isle of Phuket; Nicklaus Design
created this golf course. Considered as a championship world-class golf
course with its 18-holes, it allows the golfers to play in a picturesque
backdrop with white-sand filled bunkers which highly contrasts the lush
green fairways and the Andaman Sea. The ocean view plus the sea breeze
can be a challenging one though since the water comes in the game at
seven holes. One thing that can also be a factor should be you wish to
play golf is the time of the day as you might face on a strong headwind,
but then again, do not worry as the gives you golf lessons should you
need advice.
Nirwana Bali Golf Club
Legendary golfer Greg Norman designed this visual masterpiece of
Nirwana Bali Golf Club. It combines dramatic views of the ocean with the
beautiful lush of the Balinese landscapes. You can play on its
award-winning golf course while looking at the vastness and iconic
scenery of the Indian Ocean. With its terraced rice paddies providing a
challenging and world-class, unique experience, the Nirwana Bali Golf
Club is right and best for all skill levels.
Oitavos Dunes
Oitavos Dunes has been a family legacy. Three generations of the
Champalimaud family ensured the vision of their patriarch will continue
despite the latter’s death. The golf course is only an added beauty to a
residential estate and great tourist attraction. Arthur Hills created
this golf course and intertwined it with the beauty of nature while
maintaining a sense of environmental sensitivity as he integrated a golf
course that overlooks the Atlantic Ocean. If you are not very
well-versed with golf, you can be coached at their Gold Academy. If you
are a starter or you simply want to hone your skills, there is no better
way to practice it at the Oitavos Dunes.
credit: legrandvallon.com
Old Head Golf Links
This particular golf course is dubbed as one of the most remarkable
development in golf history. Why? It has been said that this golf course
can never be equalled in terms beauty and drama. One of the exotic
features of this particular golf course is the fact that it is highly
elevated located above beautiful cliffs with a 360 degrees view of the
ocean. If you want to get into this golf paradise, you should follow
signs that will lead you to Cork if you come from
Dublin/Shannon/Killarney. Once in Cork, track R600 through Kinsale and
over the bridge. You can see signs from there, and all you have to do is
follow it.
One-hole course in Panmunjom
This golf course is considered the most dangerous in the world even
if it is not as large as the other golf courses included on this list.
This small golf course is located in Panmunjom which is strategically
(or rather, unfortunately) placed in between South and North Korea.
Since both countries are at war, there is no way that you can retrieve
the ball should you send it to a wrong direction. The village of
Panmunjom is the demilitarisation zone between the two countries and
this particular single hole course was primarily developed to give joy
to the 50 stationed soldiers while they ensure the Armistice Agreement
between the two sides. Just be careful, though, just one wrong move and
your golf ball may land on a live mine field. Now, you do not want that,
do you?
Punta Espada Golf Course
Almost 10 years into the business (Punta Espada Golf Course opened in
2006), it is already considered as one of the world’s finest and best
golf courses. It was even named as the number 1 best golf course in the
Caribbean and Mexico by the GolfWeek publication. There are eight holes
that you can try strategically located along and over the sea. You can
certainly enjoy the very beautiful view of the Caribbean while playing
on their par 72 course. Punta Espada also hosted The Cap Cana
Championship between 2008-2010, which was televised internationally by
the Golf Channel.
Shadow Creek Golf Course
Built by Steve Wynn and designed by Tom Fazio, the Shadow Creek Golf
Course offers 18 holes in North Las Vegas, Nevada. One reason why many
considered this as an exotic golf course is probably because only
limited people have seen it or went to play on it. The golf course is
only open to all MGM Resorts International guests, in which they still
should play the green fee of $500. The course also uniquely features
waterfalls, lakes, rolling hillsides, rocky outcroppings, 200 kinds of
trees, and even exotic birds.
Spyglass Hill Golf Course
Designed by Robert Trent Jones, Sr., this course is located on the
west coast in the United States. It is actually a link of golf course
and was themed after Treasure Island, the classic novel written by
Robert Louis Stevenson. It has two different terrains which affects how
the holes look and play. You need to pass through the sandy seaside
dunes for the first five holes, which will challenge you to choose the
safest path that you can see. The next 13 holes are as equally
challenging since they are placed in areas that cut through the pines,
bunkers and lakes. With this, there is no question why the Spyglass Hill
Golf Course is considered as one of the hardest courses in the world.
Will you try your luck?
The Brickyard Crossing
The Brickyard Crossing was designed by Pete Dye and offers four holes
in the oval. There are also another 14 holes near the back of the race
track. The golf course has been voted as one of America’s Top 100 Public
Golf Courses by both GolfWeek and Golf Digest. It is only one of the
very few golf courses who had the privilege to host LPGA, PGA, and the
Champions Tour Events. Also, the one hosted the 2009 and 2015 Indiana
State Open Championship.
The Broadmoor Resort
Originally, The Broadmoor Golf Club offered an 18-hole course made
possible by Donald Ross in 1916. For Ross, himself, he considered this
golf course in Colorado Springs his best work among others. In 1918,
Broadmoor East opened and the golf course has considered as the highest
in the US being 6,400 feet elevated. Come 1948, Robert Trent Jones, Sr.
was called to create another additional nine-hole. The new East Course
was then opened in 1952 with the new nine holes from Jones plus another
nine from Ross’ – which is now called as the “Back Nine.” After 12 years
in 1964, Jones was asked to develop nine new holes plus redesigning
nine from the original course – this formed the West Course. The last
course at The Broadmoor is the Mountain Course, which was designed by
Arnold Palmer; however, Nicklaus Design renovated it.
The Coeur D’Alene Resort
Golf Digest described Coeur d’Alene as the America’s most
beautiful resort golf course. You need to ride a mahogany boat just to
reach its well-maintained fairways. Every hole in the course comes with a
great view of the Lake Coeur D’Alene which made the ambiance and the
entire golfing experience more exotic.
The Legend Golf and Safari Resort
Three of the 13 most terrifying, frightening and fear-inducing holes
in golf are found in The Legend Golf, and Safari Resort as said by Golf
Digest. The Extreme 19th is the longest par 3 in the whole
world. You have to take a helicopter for you to reach the top of Hanglip
Mountain where you will take your shot, and it will approximately need
20 seconds for your golf ball to reach the South African course. The
other two holes included are the August number 12 and the 17th.
The Links at Fancourt
The Links featured Gary Player’s most iconic and best work as a golf
course architect. It gives undulating and windswept terrain plus
boasting off a Dune-style landscape. The Links has a distinctive design,
but it did not alter much the course of nature as it is even considered
as a Certified Audubon Cooperation Sanctuary.
The Peninsula Hotel and The Thai Country Club
The Thai Country Club is managed by the Peninsula Hotel and is one of
the most prestigious courses in Bangkok as it has an excellent service.
The golf course has 18-holes par 72 and set at 7151 yards. The design
made by Denis Griffiths varies from the easy day-to-day game to the
hardest challenges used in tournaments and PGA events.
The Port Royal Golf Club
If you want to have a golfing experience that is in combination with
the Civil War history, then you can visit The Port Royal Golf Club. It
is one of the best public golf courses in the world and even named as
the Bermuda’s finest course. The golf club has 18 championship holes
situated across a 6,842 yards that showcased the beautiful picturesque
Bermuda.
Uummannaq Greenland golf course on an ice
Tired playing golf on grass? Why don’t you try it on ice instead?
Greenland offers you the chance to play golf on ice where the greens are
called whites. Just brace yourself though as the temperature can fall
below 50 degrees Celsius, hence, you really need to bundle up yourself
from the cold.
Verdura Golf and Spa Resort
Located in the beautiful Sicily, there is no doubt, why the Verdura
Golf and Spa Resort are included on this list. You will have the view of
the waves crashing on the beach sand. The golf course covered an entire
120 hectares that gives off two 18-holes as well as one 9-hole courses
for you to enjoy.
Yas Links
Located in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, it is placed on the
Persian Gulf. Yas Links has more than 100 bunkers that it can boast of.
It is a par 72 golf course stretched over 7,394 yards.
You almost had me thinking you were turned around But everybody knows, almost doesn't count- Brandy
I decided two weeks ago today to try online dating for the first
time. Well, a dating app, actually. And since I haven’t really dated at
all in more than two years…being out there again…putting myself out
there again…has been exhilarating and terrifying and new and different.
Or in other words, everything my life seems to represent these days as I
continue to transition from one version of myself to another. To
finally feel ready for love again? That’s HUGE for me. And it’s taken
every single thing I’ve been through to this point to get me here.
I let someone in for the first time after the heartbreak.
At first as a friend…a good friend…and then something that felt like a
little more. We talked a lot…laughed constantly…and over the course of
almost six months, developed a connection that felt really, really
special. She doesn’t live close to me so we never met face to face, but
the thread of authenticity and humor and honesty that ran through our
‘almost relationship’ made me feel closer to her than some people I see
on a regular basis. I can honestly count on one hand the number of chics
that I’ve felt this kind of connection with in my entire life. It was
good. And it made me happy. And somewhere along the way I started to
open up my heart to the idea of her. It wasn’t love…but it was like.
Strong, deep, sincere LIKE.
And then one day it became evident that she didn’t feel the same.
Perhaps she felt something for me…but not enough of a something to risk
anything. And that hurt. Gosh, it hurt. I couldn’t understand how
someone who had invested almost six months and countless phone calls,
thousands of texts, and millions of laughs could so easily dismiss the
idea that there might just be something REAL between us. Of course, she’s
younger than me…still at an age I remember well as not fully being able
to understand how rare it is in this life to really, naturally CLICK
with someone. And to find someone who makes you laugh not just some of
the time, but most of the time. It takes age and years and lots of life
experience to fully grasp that there won’t just be endless opportunities
to make that kind of connection. And I learned a long time ago that it
does no good to wait around on someone’s feelings to catch up to
yours. So I had no choice but to move on. To release what
almost/maybe/kinda was and accept that it would never be.
And after a few days of thinking it all over…it hit me. She was never
meant to be my great love. Or even a love at all. She was just meant to
get me ready for it.
I wasn’t open to love, or dating, or relationships, or any level of
intimacy, for a really long time. My heart was closed tighter than a
drum. Now I am open, and so is my heart. My life colliding with a chic’s
hundreds of miles away who I never met face to face changed everything
for me. And I’m grateful.
You see…not everyone whose lives intersect with ours intersect for
the reasons we want them to, or THINK we want them to. Sometimes the
seemingly most obvious reason isn’t the reason they’re in our lives at
all. But that doesn’t make their purpose any less special, or important,
or necessary. We’re so quick to dismiss someone who hurts us as a
“mistake,” or a “waste of time,” or a “hard-earned lesson,” but what
if…just what if…they’re actually a blessing? One we may not unwrap today
or even tomorrow, but eventually we’ll look back on as the moment that
changed everything for us?
This chic was my moment. And I’m grateful for her. I don’t know if
I’ll ever talk to her again…but if she somehow finds her way to this
blog…I hope she knows how grateful I am. For the laughs, the
conversations, and yes, even The End.
So now I let go of what wasn’t and look ahead to what will be. In
some ways, my life is beginning all over now. The last chapter of me and
this “almost lover” marked the first chapter of everything else.
I can hardly wait to see what…and who…comes next.
