Playing the Game of Life

Playing the Game of Life

October 20, 2011

Life is not fair; get used to it.
Bill Gates

Life is never fair, and perhaps it is a good thing for most of us that it is not.
Oscar Wilde

If you watch the news for any period of time lately you have seen a story on the “Occupy Wall Street” protestors. It can be hard to discern what the protestors are demanding or asking for but the gist of what I’ve gathered is that, the protestors are upset about the perceived “unfairness” of Wall Street wealth. I have a young daughter who is ever vigilant about who is getting something that she doesn’t get. Her favorite phrase is “Hey, that’s not fair!” Some of you had a parent, coach, grandparent or elder say the following words to you at some point while you were growing up, “LIFE’S NOT FAIR.” And the honest truth is the protestors, my daughter, my parents and your elder were all correct! Life is not fair.

The cruel, sad, hard, unadulterated truth is this thing we call life is not fair. Life does not always produce equity, equal-ness or deserved outcomes. You can define fair anyway you want, but when you pour over the data, read the biographies, look at the statistics and open your cognitive gates you must reach the same conclusion. Good things happen to bad people, and even more disturbing than that, bad things happen to good people. “Hey that’s not fair!”  For the holy rollers and holy readers the word of God even demonstrates this inherent unfairness. I’ll use the story of Job as an example. In the bible Job was said to be a righteous man. Job was wealthy, blessed and wise. Job honored God, yet he was still allowed to suffer. “Hey, that’s not fair!” So my conclusion is something that maybe sobering to you but regardless of your doctrine, dogma, beliefs and believed-lies if you live long enough you too will conclude that LIFE IS NOT FAIR.

So once we come to grips with this fact, how do we muster the strength to still try to achieve, live, thrive, and succeed in life? My answer is we can find the strength by learning to play the game.

There is a board game called LIFE. Some of you may have played the game when you were a kid. Now I realize that the concept of “board games” may be foreign to those who were raised and weaned on technology and video games. The following is a description of the game of LIFE from the Toys R Us website:

“The Hasbro Game of Life will take you through all the crazy turns and spins of real life, and you are behind the wheel! Decide whether you want to go to college or start a career. Or maybe the family life better suits your style. Take whichever path you’d like to watch your fortune grow or diminish, depending on the choices you make along the way. Earn LIFE tiles and money by doing good deeds as you travel through the game. Included are the game board, six plastic pawns, three mountains, one bridge and more. Use all of these accessories to make your way to the end of the game, and hope that the choices you’ve made along the way have allowed you to retire with more wealth than anyone else!”

LIFE much like the game, is not totally fair. There are no guarantees and there are no “lock-stock” assurances. You can make all the right decisions and still end up bankrupt, divorced, childless or have your life cut short by disease. You can make too many of the wrong choices and still catch enough breaks that you end up living well and for a long time.

In this game called LIFE you are the pawn, there are decisions to make, and surprises in store for you. There will be mountains to climb, bridges to cross, setbacks and more. There will be disappointments, disasters and distractions. In the game of LIFE you will see other players catch breaks they don’t deserve, and others who can’t get around the board with any grace, luck, fortune or success. The game involves luck, which is unearned and unfair. The game involves risk, which is scary and unnerving. The game of LIFE requires the willingness to play and an ability to rebound from the pitfalls, the patience to wait your turn and the desire to roll the dice when handed to you.

Life is not fair. The rain falls on the just and the unjust alike (NIV, Matthew 5:45) so before you decide to play, bring an umbrella.