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Happy New Year, Dear Readers!
This would be a wonderful time to thank you for visiting our blog at any time since our launch in January of 2006 and to wish you every happiness and success in this new year of 2009.
Every year is a year of change, transition, and possibility - but perhaps this year more so than many. Though economic times may be tough and challenging for some, and though as a country and as a global population we still face challenges of many types, a new year always brings with it hope and the possibility of change for the better.
And in this country, and around the world, part of that hope will be brought to the fore with the inauguration of president-elect Barack Obama at noon on January 20th. In Mr. Obama, we have a leader who is extremely intelligent, thoughtful, perceptive, wise, inclusive, and far-seeing. His leadership already inspires hope and confidence.
To this mix, let us add two other words: patience and perseverance. Let us be patient as President Obama perseveres in finding solutions to our many dilemmas and challenges. Let us be both patient and persevering in pursuing our own goals and dreams and in solving our own dilemmas. And let each one of us be the change we hope to see around us.
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
Friday, December 05, 2008
On Winning: 25 Life Lessons Learned from Playing Free Cell
OK, I admit it: I am a Free Cell devotee. Once I get started, I can play it for hours. I know I have compatriots out there. I have heard their sheepish confessions.
For those few who have not heard of Free Cell, I will explain. Free Cell is a computerized version of solitaire. This game is one of four that comes already loaded as a freebie on Microsoft operating systems. I have been playing Free Cell since 2003.
It's been challenging to justify the time I spend playing Free Cell. Mostly, I play when I need a break from all the work I do on my computer. I play for fun, for the challenge, for a change of pace, to combat boredom, to counter frustration or upset, to kill time while waiting for something else to happen. Occasionally I play to clear my mind - an almost meditative experience. Today was one of those days.
From the time I first began playing Free Cell five years ago to now, my ratio of winning:losing has increased enormously. When I first started playing, I rarely won a game. Now, I rarely lose. Today I began to think about why that is so and about how much I have learned while playing Free Cell. For the fun of it, I jotted down some of the things I have learned by playing this game. Then came the big AHA! - the moment when I saw the parallels between winning at the game of Free Cell and winning at the game of Life!
And now - to justify my habit - I am passing on these insights to you: 25 life lessons I learned from playing Free Cell:
1. The deal of the cards in a hand is random. There is no particular reason why you got a good hand or a bad hand. [For that matter, there is no such thing as a "good" or "bad" hand. A hand is just a hand. It is what it is.]
2. Play the hand you are dealt.
3. You win some and you lose some.
4. The trick is to win more than you lose.
5. Whether you win or lose has a lot to do with the choices you make. Most hands can be won if you play your cards right.
6. But not always. Occasionally, you are dealt a hand that cannot be won, no matter how you play it. As soon as you realize it cannot be won, let it go and move on to the next hand.
7. Winning on a consistent basis seems to come more easily if you start out by winning the first game.
8. Sometimes you start out with a winning hand, and sometimes you don't.
9. If you play long enough, you will start winning.
10. Once you start winning, keep playing and soon you will find yourself on a winning streak. The more you win, the more you keep winning. [This I have observed empirically over time.]
11. Losing streaks work the same way.
12. When you experience yourself as a Winner enough times, you begin to believe you are a Winner.
13. When you begin to believe you are a Winner, you do, in fact, become a Winner. [Why is this so? My theory: you first believe you are a winner, then begin to think and act like a winner - more strategically and with confidence. You get bolder. You try new moves. You are open to new options. You explore new possibilities. You risk more. You trust your intuition more.]
14. Being a Winner doesn't mean that you win every game. It means that you win more games than you lose - often, many more games. It also means that you keep playing, even (or especially) when you've just lost.
15. When a Winner sees that s/he does not have a winning hand, s/he quickly folds and plays a new hand.
16. Winning sometimes involves sacrificing a short term gain for the possibility of a long term win.
17. Winning involves learning from your mistakes.
18. When you lose a hand, replay it and try a different approach. If that doesn't work, replay the hand once more. When you've tried all the variations you can think of, and you're still not winning, move on to a new game.
19. Sometimes the obvious move is not the best move. (And sometimes, it is.)
20. Winning is not about getting it perfect; winning is about getting it done in a timely way.
21. Winning involves several things, some of which may seem contradictory - for example, using both logic and intuition to arrive at the winning hand.
22. Winners are not afraid of losing a game. Why? Because they KNOW they will win again in the future.
23. Playing Free Cell (or any game - real, virtual, or psychological) can become addictive. If you cannot stop playing when you know you should, it's time to quit playing the game altogether. If you cannot quit, get help! See a coach or a therapist, join a 12-step program, or remove the game from your computer (or your life).
24. Playing games can be fun and relaxing. But they are not Life.
25. Walking away from a game - whether winning or losing - can be challenging. Walking away when it is time to stop IS Winning - at the game of Life!
For those few who have not heard of Free Cell, I will explain. Free Cell is a computerized version of solitaire. This game is one of four that comes already loaded as a freebie on Microsoft operating systems. I have been playing Free Cell since 2003.
It's been challenging to justify the time I spend playing Free Cell. Mostly, I play when I need a break from all the work I do on my computer. I play for fun, for the challenge, for a change of pace, to combat boredom, to counter frustration or upset, to kill time while waiting for something else to happen. Occasionally I play to clear my mind - an almost meditative experience. Today was one of those days.
From the time I first began playing Free Cell five years ago to now, my ratio of winning:losing has increased enormously. When I first started playing, I rarely won a game. Now, I rarely lose. Today I began to think about why that is so and about how much I have learned while playing Free Cell. For the fun of it, I jotted down some of the things I have learned by playing this game. Then came the big AHA! - the moment when I saw the parallels between winning at the game of Free Cell and winning at the game of Life!
And now - to justify my habit - I am passing on these insights to you: 25 life lessons I learned from playing Free Cell:
1. The deal of the cards in a hand is random. There is no particular reason why you got a good hand or a bad hand. [For that matter, there is no such thing as a "good" or "bad" hand. A hand is just a hand. It is what it is.]
2. Play the hand you are dealt.
3. You win some and you lose some.
4. The trick is to win more than you lose.
5. Whether you win or lose has a lot to do with the choices you make. Most hands can be won if you play your cards right.
6. But not always. Occasionally, you are dealt a hand that cannot be won, no matter how you play it. As soon as you realize it cannot be won, let it go and move on to the next hand.
7. Winning on a consistent basis seems to come more easily if you start out by winning the first game.
8. Sometimes you start out with a winning hand, and sometimes you don't.
9. If you play long enough, you will start winning.
10. Once you start winning, keep playing and soon you will find yourself on a winning streak. The more you win, the more you keep winning. [This I have observed empirically over time.]
11. Losing streaks work the same way.
12. When you experience yourself as a Winner enough times, you begin to believe you are a Winner.
13. When you begin to believe you are a Winner, you do, in fact, become a Winner. [Why is this so? My theory: you first believe you are a winner, then begin to think and act like a winner - more strategically and with confidence. You get bolder. You try new moves. You are open to new options. You explore new possibilities. You risk more. You trust your intuition more.]
14. Being a Winner doesn't mean that you win every game. It means that you win more games than you lose - often, many more games. It also means that you keep playing, even (or especially) when you've just lost.
15. When a Winner sees that s/he does not have a winning hand, s/he quickly folds and plays a new hand.
16. Winning sometimes involves sacrificing a short term gain for the possibility of a long term win.
17. Winning involves learning from your mistakes.
18. When you lose a hand, replay it and try a different approach. If that doesn't work, replay the hand once more. When you've tried all the variations you can think of, and you're still not winning, move on to a new game.
19. Sometimes the obvious move is not the best move. (And sometimes, it is.)
20. Winning is not about getting it perfect; winning is about getting it done in a timely way.
21. Winning involves several things, some of which may seem contradictory - for example, using both logic and intuition to arrive at the winning hand.
22. Winners are not afraid of losing a game. Why? Because they KNOW they will win again in the future.
23. Playing Free Cell (or any game - real, virtual, or psychological) can become addictive. If you cannot stop playing when you know you should, it's time to quit playing the game altogether. If you cannot quit, get help! See a coach or a therapist, join a 12-step program, or remove the game from your computer (or your life).
24. Playing games can be fun and relaxing. But they are not Life.
25. Walking away from a game - whether winning or losing - can be challenging. Walking away when it is time to stop IS Winning - at the game of Life!
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Loss, Gratitude, and the Phone Company
Think about all the things we take for granted. Sometimes it takes a loss to help us appreciate what we have.
Tuesday morning I picked up my phone to make a call and the line was dead. No dial tone. Nothing. Nada. I tried every extension in the house. [There are three.] Same story.
I went searching for my cell phone, which I don't use very often. It was buried in my purse. I used it to call the phone company to report the problem.
I dialed the number provided for reporting technical problems. The phone was answered by an automated voice - female, pleasant, courteous, robotic. I tried to get through to a live person, but couldn't. This was partly due, I suspect, to the fact that Tuesday was a national holiday (Veterans Day) and there was probably only a skeleton staff of "live people" there. The auto-voice told me that service would be scheduled for Thursday, sometime between 8am and 6pm - at least 48 hours away! [Now, I have learned this trick, which I am passing on to you: When they provide a pause during which you are supposed so say a word like "yes" or "no" or a number, say "Agent". That should get you transfered to a Customer Service representative.]
When, after three tries, I finally reached a "live agent" on Wednesday morning, I put in a plea: Could you please come today rather than tomorrow? I have a business to run. I need to be available to my clients, as well as to family and friends.
No go. But I did get a morning appointment for today (Thursday). And at 10:15 this morning, I got a call from a repairman saying that the problem had been fixed. A wire in a cable a few blocks away had broken and was now repaired. [An auto-voice called me later in the day to report the same thing.]
I was immediately relieved and joyful and flooded with gratitude. It occurred to me then that there are so many things in life that we have and take for granted - phone service, electricity, computers, access to email and the internet, material goods, family, friends, lovers, spouses, pets, health, housing, food, democracy, military protection, social security, medicare, pensions, paid benefits, sunrises and full moons ... ah, I could go on and on here.
Sometimes it helps to lose something or someone we take for granted. We get to see how fortunate and blessed we are (or were) to have had them in our lives. Right now, I feeling very grateful for phone service - and for everything else on that list above!
Tuesday morning I picked up my phone to make a call and the line was dead. No dial tone. Nothing. Nada. I tried every extension in the house. [There are three.] Same story.
I went searching for my cell phone, which I don't use very often. It was buried in my purse. I used it to call the phone company to report the problem.
I dialed the number provided for reporting technical problems. The phone was answered by an automated voice - female, pleasant, courteous, robotic. I tried to get through to a live person, but couldn't. This was partly due, I suspect, to the fact that Tuesday was a national holiday (Veterans Day) and there was probably only a skeleton staff of "live people" there. The auto-voice told me that service would be scheduled for Thursday, sometime between 8am and 6pm - at least 48 hours away! [Now, I have learned this trick, which I am passing on to you: When they provide a pause during which you are supposed so say a word like "yes" or "no" or a number, say "Agent". That should get you transfered to a Customer Service representative.]
When, after three tries, I finally reached a "live agent" on Wednesday morning, I put in a plea: Could you please come today rather than tomorrow? I have a business to run. I need to be available to my clients, as well as to family and friends.
No go. But I did get a morning appointment for today (Thursday). And at 10:15 this morning, I got a call from a repairman saying that the problem had been fixed. A wire in a cable a few blocks away had broken and was now repaired. [An auto-voice called me later in the day to report the same thing.]
I was immediately relieved and joyful and flooded with gratitude. It occurred to me then that there are so many things in life that we have and take for granted - phone service, electricity, computers, access to email and the internet, material goods, family, friends, lovers, spouses, pets, health, housing, food, democracy, military protection, social security, medicare, pensions, paid benefits, sunrises and full moons ... ah, I could go on and on here.
Sometimes it helps to lose something or someone we take for granted. We get to see how fortunate and blessed we are (or were) to have had them in our lives. Right now, I feeling very grateful for phone service - and for everything else on that list above!
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