Living with 2 brothers allowed me to participate in multiple forms of strategic games...both fantasy and reality. Early in their lives, I was proud to be able to outsmart them and was usually victorious in the games we played. As they grew older it was necessary to put significantly more thought into the moves I made. Before long I had to admit defeat to their superior ability to see the possible choices I might make and plan for them in advance.
Strategy has always been a fascinating subject to me. So simple in it's definition - "The art of planning and directing overall military operations and movements in a war or battle"...and yet the number of possible moves and outcomes are so overwhelming it is almost unfathomable.
Chess is one game that has a seemingly endless selection of decisions, leading to an equally endless list of outcomes. Chess is a game that takes concentration, thought and strategy to play.
It occurred to me at some point (probably after losing the 100th game to one of my brothers), that life, is very similar to chess in many of it's entities. Each and every move you make not only affects you, but also has the potential to change the life of all the people (pieces) around you. Every decision, whether spur of the moment or well thought out, ultimately affects the outcome of the game.
There are multiple instances (games) you will have to navigate, all with infinite amounts of possible endings. The number of games (instances) you play, make up your lifespan.
The realization of the importance of strategy is liberating, the knowledge of how many ways you can fail is daunting. Hopefully, as in chess, we can learn from life's mistakes and chose a different move next time.
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