Winning at the Game of Life

Colette Venter wrote another piece which I couldn’t resist sharing with you today:

I walked into a dim room. Six men were sitting around a round table, each with a hand of playing cards.

I came closer until I could see the cards in the first man’s hands. He was red in the face; he was very angry. I looked at the cards in his hands and I understood. He had been dealt a really bad hand. “This is useless,” he said, throwing his cards on the table. “I’m not playing anymore!.”?He stood up and left the room. The room went completely silent for a while. I could see that the other five men were very sad that their friend had left. The guy in the blue sweater stood up, went to the bar, and came back with a beer for each of his friends.

As they continued with their game, I came closer to the second man. His hand was not great, but acceptable. As he slipped a card from under the table, it fell on the floor. “Dude, are you cheating?” asked the other guys, perplexed. “Um, no,” he said with a nervous smile. “Seriously, find some other people to play with!” exclaimed the men around the table, shaking their heads in disbelief. “Perhaps we should give him another chance,” suggested the man in the blue sweater. The cheating man felt awkward but was grateful to stay, as he had no one else to play with.

Gradually I made my way around the table. The third guy had a really great hand. I could see by his smile that he knew he had what it would take to win the game, and he was completely focused on doing precisely that. When his eyes met the eyes of the man in the blue sweater, they smiled at each other and raised their glasses to an impromptu toast.

Then I came up to the fourth man. He had his cards in one hand and his mobile phone in the other. He played his turn with his left hand, not really considering his options. He was busy conversing with someone on his phone using his right hand. “Are you sure you want to do that?” asked the guy in the blue sweater. “Yeah, whatever man,” answered the fourth man without looking up.

The fifth guy was lying on his elbow on the table complaining to himself. “This is a complete waste of time.”?I only heard him because I was so close. “Sorry, didn’t hear you man; what did you say?” asked the man in the blue sweater while holding the bowl of peanuts towards his miserable friend.

Then I came to the guy in the blue sweater, excited to see what cards he was holding. His eyes smiled as he showed me his hand. It was not great at all. “Why are you so happy?” I asked him, a bit puzzled over his cheerfulness. “Well, you see,” he said looking around the table, “I like playing.”

Life gives each one of us a unique hand of cards. We can decide not to play it at all. We can complain about how unfair it is. Our complaints would be completely justified; it is damn unfair! We could try to cheat, but that would only damage our relationships, and we may end up playing all alone or not playing at all. We can focus on winning, or we can choose not to focus on the game at all. We all have the freedom to choose how we play.

However, it seems to me, that the people who play the cards they were dealt to the best of their ability and care about the people they are playing with, are the only ones who understand the game.

Have a great week!