The game of life

Congratulations to us, they say it's going to be an unusually cold winter here this year! Only six months till spring now, ha! Everyday's an adventure. I'm serious. Have you ever felt as if life were a complex strategy game with no stop button? A game we're forced to be part of and for which you are calmly supposed to analyze best directions and evaluate most profitable outcome, duck and dive for unexpected events and somehow straighten things out so not to fall too deep off the steep hills on each side of your path. 

That's how I feel most often, I'm one of seven billion game pieces patiently maneuvering my way through the vast board of life. It's a thought which in real life enables me to not take things too seriously as I know it's all a ploy anyway. That sounds cynical I know (and I haven't even got started on my beloved conspiracy theories), but I do gain great pleasure, comfort, as well as liberty in knowing that it's all going to move on whether I want it to or not. I can choose to tactically move with the game of life and with some distance to it all enjoy and reap from the moments, challenges and tests that are constantly thrown at me, or I could choose to fight against hardships and trials and make the way forward heavier than necessary. 

Life is like a game of chess, part luck - mostly strategy, the better we learn to master the game, the greater chance to lead a successful life. With successful I don't necessarily mean in terms of financial success from a career perspective, but in how much enjoyment, love and peace of mind that we gain along the way. For those are what are the most important to me in the end: to lead a healthy, pleasurable life where least time is spent on worrying, complaining and having regrets. Money is obviously an important aspect as it gives us freedom which in turn gives us satisfaction (if the satisfaction is true and spending under control), but I believe that when you work towards doing what you love and play the game of life with open mind and awareness, the rewards will inevitably find your way. One step at a time. Believe in the process. Learn from your mistakes. Have respect for life and its ups and downs and things will eventually work in your favor.

That said, I don't think there is a magic formula or a higher knowledge that can make any or every human being happy, successful and at peace for the rest of our lives as there are some events that can drastically transform our existence forever. Death, illness and injury for example. Those are all parts of the game too. Unfortunately perhaps, but still as much part of life as life itself. What I mean is merely that while we still have the physical ability to co-create our own lives, we should always choose that opportunity.