Checkmate

When my wife really needs to be left alone to accomplish something, it's always best if I leave the house. I am a huge distraction. I do things just to get her attention. Often childish things, but frequently adult things. Anyway, a situation like this arose a few months ago so I told her I would leave and give her some time and space to study quietly.

I really had nowhere to go so I decided I would head to Barnes & Noble to get a Starbucks and find a book to skim over. I walked in, found a book that interested me, grabbed a coffee and sat down at a table. Within a few minutes an older man, wearing a grungy looking flannel, came and sat at a table beside me. (For the sake of this post I'll call him Eli.) He pulled out an old faded chessboard and plastic chess pieces from the tattered canvas bag he carried in. He laid the board out and put his black plastic pieces on one side and left the other side empty. He then sat with his head bowed for the next ten minutes. I kept wondering if he was napping or praying for a partner to come along. Finally a middle-aged man came and sat at his table.(For the sake of this post I'll call him Rich.) He was dressed in a starched collared shirt and carried a small shiny silver box. He quickly opened the box to reveal some impressive looking chess pieces. They were shiny and looked like they were made of ivory or some polished stone. He pulled out a timer with two red buttons on top and placed it on the table. There were no audible words exchanged and the game began.

The book was an afterthought as I watched these two guys play the game. I'm not a chess player or chess enthusiast, but these guys and their games interested me. Eli was slow and methodical. Rich was quick and confident. They both had a strategy. Their decisions were not random moves of pieces across the board. They were making choices and decisions that would set up offensive attacks and at the same time not put their most important pieces in vulnerable positions.

Eli seemed to be so patient. He never seemed rushed or pressured to make his decision. There was a timer but it never seemed to rush him. He thought calmly before making decisions. Sometimes he would get up and walk away briefly and return and reevaluate the board. Eli oozed patience.

Rich was quick. He seemed rushed and nervous. He seemed to be rushed by the clock and he was constantly shaking his leg or tapping his foot. After Eli made a move, Rich would quickly move his piece and slap the red button on the timer. It seemed as if Rich was reacting instead of thinking through his decisions. I wondered if Rich wasn't trying to play a mental game with Eli, like trying to rush or pressure him. If he was it wasn't working. Eli was sticking to his strategy.

The first match went fairly quickly with Eli coming out on top. The second match Rich was seemingly ahead most of the game but Eli held on for the checkmate. The final match that I was there for was a stalemate for quite sometime, but Rich never gave up and pulled it out.

Isn't this whole scenario symbolic of our lives?

First of all the difference in the two men. We are all different. Some of us are young, some middle aged, some older. Some of us live our life in a flannel shirt, some in a starched collar. Some of us live a relaxed, slow paced life while others seem to be living hectic, hurried lives. Our pieces might be dull & simple or shiny & elaborate. Bottom line is we are all different yet playing the same game called life.

Both men were victorious.

Both men had a strategy. They both had a plan. If they didn't they would not have won a match. They didn't just randomly move pieces across the board. They both had a vision, a goal and a plan. They both made decisions to move towards their plans. We need this in life if we want to move forward.

Eli showed me patience. He thought things through. How often do I just react. I trust my first reaction thinking it's a good move only to discover I didn't think it all the way through. I then have put myself and others in a bad position. Sometimes we need to get up and walk away from the situation before we make a decision. Often when we come back we see things we were blind to originally.

They both showed perseverance. They stuck to their style, strategy and plan. They never just quit. They both lost some key pieces and I'm sure their emotions were telling them they just lost the match. But they didn't give up when defeat seemed inevitable. If we do that in life we are going to do well no matter what kind of setbacks we encounter. I know I have been defeated in many things in life just because I came to that conclusion in my mind. The situation wasn't irreversible. There was still a chance to change the outcome, but in my mind it was over. I defeated myself. I quit. When we do that, there is no hope. Most of the time this is a result of no vision, strategy or plan.

In life, and in chess, victory is never guaranteed. None of us will get it perfect. But we can increase our odds of victory and success by implementing a strategy, being patient, making sound decisions, and having an attitude of perseverance.