I’ve never played golf, unless you count crazy golf, or golf games on the computer, so you are going to have to excuse any mistakes I make in my analogy here.

Yesterday was a rare day but it has taken me a long time to come to that realisation. Why? Because yesterday I felt good, there was a spring in my step, I had energy, I felt normal.

That’s the problem and that’s the realisation. Days like yesterday are not the normal at the moment.

I have been using the term ‘par for the course’ a lot recently as people have asked me how I am. I have responded often using Ok! Or not great, followed but that’s just par for the course at the moment.

I may have been using the term lightly, to almost make an excuse but actually it’s true. My understanding is that different holes on different courses have different pars – the amount of shots the player is expected to take to get the ball in the hole. There is a realisation that because of the terrain and the obstacles some holes will take more, or less shots.

I need to change my par for the course I’m on at the moment. I have been expecting to be meeting the same par as when I was at my healthiest I’ve ever been, and that is just not possible at the moment. Not through any fault of my own but because of the course, the terrain, the obstacles. There will be days when I’m under par, and feeling good, and I should rejoice in those.

BUT… it’s a whole course not just one hole! For golfers it’s the overall shots taken not just how they did on one particular hole.

Yesterday I took advantage I’ve feeling good and went out with some colleagues to socialise after work – something most days would fill me with dread. However, I was also aware that if I wasn’t careful, I would be paying for it. So I didn’t stay out as long as I could have done.

We all play different courses in our lives, you can’t expect to be meeting the same targets or playing the same way in all the different circumstances – not a lecture just a sentence I need to hear!