Too Much of a Good Thing?

I went golfing this past weekend. Early Saturday morning, Keith, my dad, and my dad's cousin, and I played 9 holes. It was chilly, but the sun was out and overall it was a great day for it.

Here's the thing: I'm bad. I'd say on the worse side of just "bad," even. Which is perfectly understandable, because I can count on one hand the number of times I've actually set foot on a course. So I take a big swing, hit the ground and then the ball and send a divot flying twice as far as the 5 ft my ball rolls. I tell myself it's fine—no problem. It's good for me to do things that I'm bad at, helps me learn humility, patience, etc.

But here's the other thing: I seem to be picking up more and more hobbies that I'm not very good at. First it was running, and then knitting, and golf .... what happens when the things I'm bad at outweigh the things I consider myself to be competent at? Is that still good for one's ego? Where's the tipping point where you're actually making yourself feel worse because you suck at everything you try?

Maybe it's because I'm getting older that I feel like I'm not very good at new hobbies. That other people have been doing them for years, and I'm behind. Maybe the key is to be bad, but find other people who are just a little worse than you so you can still be boosting your self-confidence at the same time.

Any non-golfers want to play 9 holes? I'll drive the cart. And the divots.