Although some people think, that life is a battle,
it is actually a game of giving and receiving.
-- Florence Scovel Shinn, Philosopher / Author
I was reading a book and one of the chapters required the reader to complete this sentence with the first word that comes across the mind: “Life is a __________ .”
The first word that came to mind was the word “game”. Life is a game! Thankfully, the first words that came to me was not “bitch” or “challenge” for I can imagine how miserable life could be if I were to see it as a constant struggle. I would not want to be driving around town with a bumper sticker shouting out “Life is a bitch. You live to die another day.”
What then constitutes a game? There needs to be at least one player, there needs to be a way of keeping score to let the player know whether he is winning or losing and more importantly, a game is supposed to be fun; not something that we dread. When I reflected at how this could relate to life, there were surprisingly many similarities.
Every individual is in fact the player in his or her own life. We choose our own destiny, we choose our next moves, we make the calls and we decide what exactly is it that we would want to do. Just like in a game, there could be other players who might try to affect the way we play the game but it is entirely up to us to decide our very next move. Like it or not, life is also like a scorecard for someone is keeping track of the score. At times, we do come out as the victors but at other times, things do not always turn out the way we would want it to be. Achieving what we had set our sights on in life would be considered as a win and when things are heading south, that is when we are losing in the game of life. Life should also be fun as we should live each day with no regrets as if it would be the last day. I would not want to have a miserable day in the hope that the next day would be better. What if there was no tomorrow??? As such, I would want to continue doing all the things to the fullest despite what others tell me for this is my game. I would continue smoking for as long as I feel like smoking. I would continue eating as much fast food and drink as much Coke and coffee for as long as I have the craving for it and I would continue doing all the things that I am doing as long as I think that it is right and for as long as it does not goes against what my heart is telling me.
Some might then ask that if life was a fun game, wouldn’t I want to prolong the game? In order to go into extra-time or the bonus round, I must be doing some of the “right” things such as keeping a healthy diet and quitting smoking. Well, there’s some truth to it but being confined by certain rules and boundaries would take away some of the fun. I might not win every single time but what matters most is that I played the game the way I would have wanted to. Winning is not as glorious and satisfying if I were to play the game of life the way others had wanted me to. Though I hate losing, I would rather end up not winning if I had to choose between losing or living life “pretentiously”.
The following is a “Sportsmen Prayer” that was engraved on a tomb in one corner of my secondary school and it sums up perfectly how I would want to lead my life:
Oh God, Please help me to win, For I always want to win.
But, if in thy inscrutable wisdom, thou willest me not to win,then make me a good loser.
For when the one great scorer comes to write against your name,
He writes not that you won or lost; but HOW YOU PLAYED THE GAME.
it is actually a game of giving and receiving.
-- Florence Scovel Shinn, Philosopher / Author
I was reading a book and one of the chapters required the reader to complete this sentence with the first word that comes across the mind: “Life is a __________ .”
The first word that came to mind was the word “game”. Life is a game! Thankfully, the first words that came to me was not “bitch” or “challenge” for I can imagine how miserable life could be if I were to see it as a constant struggle. I would not want to be driving around town with a bumper sticker shouting out “Life is a bitch. You live to die another day.”
What then constitutes a game? There needs to be at least one player, there needs to be a way of keeping score to let the player know whether he is winning or losing and more importantly, a game is supposed to be fun; not something that we dread. When I reflected at how this could relate to life, there were surprisingly many similarities.
Every individual is in fact the player in his or her own life. We choose our own destiny, we choose our next moves, we make the calls and we decide what exactly is it that we would want to do. Just like in a game, there could be other players who might try to affect the way we play the game but it is entirely up to us to decide our very next move. Like it or not, life is also like a scorecard for someone is keeping track of the score. At times, we do come out as the victors but at other times, things do not always turn out the way we would want it to be. Achieving what we had set our sights on in life would be considered as a win and when things are heading south, that is when we are losing in the game of life. Life should also be fun as we should live each day with no regrets as if it would be the last day. I would not want to have a miserable day in the hope that the next day would be better. What if there was no tomorrow??? As such, I would want to continue doing all the things to the fullest despite what others tell me for this is my game. I would continue smoking for as long as I feel like smoking. I would continue eating as much fast food and drink as much Coke and coffee for as long as I have the craving for it and I would continue doing all the things that I am doing as long as I think that it is right and for as long as it does not goes against what my heart is telling me.
Some might then ask that if life was a fun game, wouldn’t I want to prolong the game? In order to go into extra-time or the bonus round, I must be doing some of the “right” things such as keeping a healthy diet and quitting smoking. Well, there’s some truth to it but being confined by certain rules and boundaries would take away some of the fun. I might not win every single time but what matters most is that I played the game the way I would have wanted to. Winning is not as glorious and satisfying if I were to play the game of life the way others had wanted me to. Though I hate losing, I would rather end up not winning if I had to choose between losing or living life “pretentiously”.
The following is a “Sportsmen Prayer” that was engraved on a tomb in one corner of my secondary school and it sums up perfectly how I would want to lead my life:
Oh God, Please help me to win, For I always want to win.
But, if in thy inscrutable wisdom, thou willest me not to win,then make me a good loser.
For when the one great scorer comes to write against your name,
He writes not that you won or lost; but HOW YOU PLAYED THE GAME.
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