Such a positive story to end the wknd on, at a time when we could all use some sprinkles of positivity.
PGA Tour pro, Chris Kirk, is not exactly a household name. 35 now, he came into today, tied for the lead in a PGA Tour event in Detroit, facing some of the best players in the world. But why the big deal if he’s won 4 PGA Tour events, already?
Well, it’s been 5 yrs since his last win. Maybe not so surprising, since winning tournaments are hard. But, what we didn’t know during that time is, the soft-spoken golfer was dealing w many demons.
On the outside everything looked perfect: A growing family, supportive wife, even coaching his kids’ baseball teams. But on the inside, he was dealing w what he called an obsessive perfectionism w golf, one that ate away at him & caused him massive anxiety. The more he played, the less he could escape it.
As the story often goes, Chris turned to substances to quell the pain in his head. In his case, it was alcohol, & it was the only thing that could take the pain away. It got so bad, that even w all he DID have, he knew he needed to make a change, for his life not to spin out of control.
In 2019, he decided to take 7 months off from playing on the Tour, to work on himself & his alcoholism & get to working on the source of his anxiety. In his own words: “I kind of just didn’t care at that point (when he took off). I was focused on doing what I needed to do to be healthy, to be a good husband for my wife & a good father to my kids.”
Imagine we lived in a world where athletes (or anyone), were applauded for taking off & WORKING on HEALING when it comes to MH? So proud of Chris for getting to the source. We need to show even more public support for folks, in any profession, who take this path. We all get sick at times. Working on your health doesn’t make you weak. It’s in fact the opposite.