Life is A Game; So Play It Well

I think life is a big game we play ~ Eric Cantona 

"I'm done. With everything, but mostly with life."

"Oh?" I asked.

"I just don't get the point anymore. Life is just a stupid game."

"But ... that's the point. Only, to play the game well."

My cynical friend stared at me, then let his eyes roll, obviously not impressed by my making light of his having made fun of life.

If he'd just listened to me for a moment longer, I would have said something of substance. Instead he walked away from me and right off the edge of a cliff, ending his game of life forever.

Life is a song - sing it. Life is a game - play it. Life is a challenge - meet it. Life is a dream - realize it. Life is a sacrifice - offer it. Life is love - enjoy it ~ Sai Baba

As a want-to-be distinguished chess lover and player, I strongly believe that life is the greatest game and that many people under appreciate this.

Or run away from the fact, as if life being merely a game to be played is a horrible notion. Instead, humanity would rather pretend the game doesn't exist. And so, we have people hiding behind paper and screens, choosing to believe that they don't have a role to play on this vast game board called Earth.

Life is a game. Money is how we keep score ~ Ted Turner

"Life should be predictable. Living is serious business," my friend had always said while he still lived. "Life shouldn't be so ..."

His words to describe what life shouldn't be always changed. Sometimes he'd say life shouldn't be so flippant. Sometime's he'd say it should be more easy going. Once he said life ought to be easier. Then another time he said life was too boring; not challenging enough. 

Me? I've always viewed life just as my friend did, but in a positive light. Because I love games. 

Life is a game and true love is a trophy ~ Rufus Wainwright 

My friend viewed everything as a game. Church with its rote proverbs and ritualistic activities. Careers with their need to create more income to feed growing bills. Days with their dreams of sleeping and nights with their nightmares of failing.

To him everything was unreal because everything was a game.

But games have destinations, and so, to me, games are what make life real.

You know ... life can be like a big game of Battleship. The enemy knows where your ships are and is trying to call the right number and sink them. But he can't sink you if you're with God ~ Bob Goff 

I think my friend saw life as Yahtzee—the dice were rolled and he had to go where ever they fell. Except, he believed that they who were tossing the dice determined just how his dice would roll. So, not only was his life a game of dice and he never had a turn to toss a die, it was also a game of dice that involved cheating.

I view life as a game of chess. Sure, there might be some cheating. But I still have my own side of the board to worry about. And if I use my brains, I can incorporate strategy to my advantage that defeats the other no matter how much underhand trickery is at play.

Yes, I agree with my friend that life is a game. But I don't think of this as a bad thing. Because all great things, like life, are hard and fun because of those hardships.

That's when I make a list in my head of every act of goodness I've seen someone do. It's like a game. Repetitive. Even a little tedious after more than twenty years. But there are much worse games to play ~ Last line in "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins

I've heard some say "Life isn't a game, ya know." 

As if there mere idea of life being a game takes away from the seriousness of life. Or that games are childish and immature. But those sort of people don't understand that games aren't all fun and frivolity.

Games are hard and fun, and without a game ... you just have a pile of useless pieces and a drab playing board.

Games are complexity with purpose.
Games are purpose with plans.

Without a game plan, life is but a passing vapor.
And without joy, life is but a sorrow; pitiful and dull.

A voice says, “Cry!” And I said, “What shall I cry?” All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows on it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever ~ Isaiah 40:6-8

It's no simple matter playing the greatest of all games: Life.

Imagination and purpose must fuel our every move. And our end-goal is what makes each play worthwhile and meaningful. Games take effort and demand strategy and passion.

Games are not easy, true, but I still don't see why one would use it as a negative connotation when talking of life. Games are fun, and they give us a path toward possible victory.

My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle and come to their end without hope ~ Job 7:6

Just don't jump off any cliffs. Because losing is not an adventure. And falling doesn't feel so good, or so I have come to believe from the way my friend screamed in his last moments.

The greatest games are lived well. The greatest lives are played fully.

All you have to do is know the rules and play the game well.

Stop saying life is a joke. It's not. Jokes have meaning ~ Unknown

Happy living and may you win! 


*I can't decide if I just wrote satire, or if I'm serious. I'll let you decide in the comments.