I was playing Snakes & Ladder last night with Aya and was reminded how life is very much similar to the board game. I have these key takeaways:
- There’s no direct path to our goals. The road is full of snakes and ladders – obstacles and lifts.
- Do not celebrate too early. Recognize the milestones you reach but do not be complacent as if you already won the game. There could be snakes along the road to bring you down.
- Some snake are not setbacks at all. When you fall down deep, you can find a tall ladder to climb up higher than where you previously were.
- It’s okay to be behind others. Today they are ahead, tomorrow you take the lead. Our success lies in every step we take, no matter where we are in the board game.
- We roll our own dice but it’s not us who determine what we’ll get. No matter what technique we use to roll the dice, we’ll never know what we’re gonna get.
In life, ladders are not only opportunities that bring us to new heights. Ladders can be happiness, good health, relationships, and faith in God.
Aya was so competitive that she always wishes me to land on the snake spots. And every time she does that, the opposite happens. I told her to not feel disappointed when she land on snakes. It is important to focus on the bigger thing – the game, else she won’t enjoy it. And true enough, she found the fun and beauty of “just” playing the game, winning or losing.
When we both landed on the same spot, she cheerfully said, “now we’re together daddy.” And I affirmed that it always feels great to be with somebody in a journey.
As we end the game night, I told her, you cannot win all your games. But even if you lose, always find the beauty in losing. It’s the fun, the learning and the joy we gain while playing.
It’s the journey towards the goal that matters. How we play the journey defines us. full-width