Several years ago, my older brother Tom and I decided to play a round of golf. Neither one of us was any good at it, we didn’t even own golf clubs. We shared a set of our fathers Jack Nicklaus “Golden Bear” clubs that were at least 20 years old. Most of the golf balls in the bag were practice balls at best.

Since the course was crowded that day, we were paired with two other men. Tom and I had on athletic shorts, a T-shirt, tube socks, and sneakers. The two we were paired with looked like they had just finished playing in The Masters.

Everything they had on matched, and their golf shoes were freshly polished. If these guys played just half as good as they looked, then it was going to be a very humiliating day for Tom and me. There was no telling what they were thinking about our caveman mentality.

Sharing the same driver, my brother and I hit pretty decent tee shots to start the round – although I did swing and miss on my first attempt.

We were relieved when the first guy we were paired with hit a clump of grass farther than his ball; then we watched his partner bounce his tee shot off a tree and his ball land in the creek behind us.

The clothes had nothing to do with it! They looked good, but they played as badly as us.

When I was in college, my friends I asked to join in a pick -up basketball game at the Recreation Center at Texas Tech. When deciding whom to guard, I immediately chose a short skinny guy because I assumed I would be able to manhandle him.

As soon as the game started, I quickly realized that I chose poorly. Before I could break a sweat, he scored about fourteen points and left me feeling like a child searching for a bowl of soup.

I later found out that he played on the basketball team at Texas Tech and was their leading scorer the past two seasons. He didn’t look the part, but he sure played the part.

I chose to guard him because he did not appear to be much of a threat from the outside, but beneath his external appearance, he was the real deal.

Today I can see that looks can be deceiving. I have learned that judging others based on external appearance only shortchanges myself. Assume nothing based on what you see.

My physical appearance is only going to decline and there is not much I can do about that. My exterior looks outdated, by my interior can be updated as often as I like.

I mean beauty is only skin deep, correct?

“Judging is giving too much value on the surface and missing the true value beneath.”

– Dee Dee Artner

If someone would have visited the golf course looking for golfers, the two men we were paired with would have been chosen based on their physical appearance, even though they were not any better than us.

I also know that if someone were choosing a team for a pickup basketball game, that short, skinny college basketball All – American would have been the last person picked.

You never know when you’ll come across someone that looks like they can’t afford to buy bread, but actually own a bakery.

My judgement of others does not define the kind of person they are, it defines the type of person I am.

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Todd Howey is a columnist for BrownwoodNews.com whose articles will appear on Fridays.