A while ago I was asked in one of the Bulletin Board postings if I had a “life list” of things that I would like to achieve, and “Has It Sunk In Yet? How Has Your Life Changed So Far?”.
I have always had goals, and lists of things I would like to do, but have never been very organised about it, and my filing system tends to consist of many bits of paper, scattered around the house, tidied away into drawers and cupboards in a fairly random fashion.
The question on the Bulletin Board prompted me to go looking for a particular list I remembered writing a few years ago after reading a book about goal-setting and achievement.
I could not find the list, I have searched high and low, but I did find all sorts of interesting things hidden away in drawers. One that I thought was very appropriate was a Christmas card I had received from my mum.
She always adds interesting extra things to her letters or cards, such as newspaper articles, lists of things such as the best places to visit in the world, or quotes and words of wisdom.
Inside the Christmas card she had stuck a Post-It note with a quote written on it. The quote is from Voltaire, an 18th century French writer and philosopher. You can read more about Voltaire at Wikipedia.
I thought the quote was very relevant to me:-
“Each player must accept the cards life deals him or her: but once they are in hand, he or she alone must decide how to play the cards in order to win the game.”
I get a huge amount of support and encouragement for how I have decided to play the hand of cards I have been dealt. I also get a fair share of criticism and questioning about the path I have chosen, which I expected from the start. After all, I guess the choices I have made are a bit unusual.
But I have always believed that life is just a game, not necessarily to be won in the traditional sense of beating somebody else, to to be won in terms of living the best life you can with the chances you are given, and enjoying the game as best you can for the brief period that you are a part of it.
So whether people do or don’t agree with, or understand, what I am doing, or why I am doing it, doesn’t really matter. This is just my way of playing the cards I have been dealt. You have a completely different set of cards, and can play them however you like, it’s completely up to you.
Good luck in the game, I hope you enjoy it.