BABY IT'S COLD OUTSIDE!! It's a snow day. OK Northerners. Quit. I know I'm in Houston. But we're acclimated to muggy, overbearing heat. We are thin skinned and can handle freezing temps as well as you can handle the temps in the 100s. And hardly any of us know how to drive on ice.
So we are stuck indoors Day 2 . . . . it's just me and the 7 year old at the house. I'm tired of applying for jobs and tired of her staring at her iPad. So I brought down the board games. The first we played was Chutes and Ladders. As with any elementary school age child, the goal is to win every game that you play.
The game started off fine. She was winning. But she hit a chute and down she went. Below me. The hurt was in her voice. The tears were almost there. I said, "Wait. You may hit that ladder and be almost to the top." She stayed with it.
And I went down a chute. And up a ladder. And she went up a ladder. And down a chute. And the game went on. And she won. And ran around the house and up the stairs cheering that she won.
Last night I watched "History of the Eagles", a documentary about the rock band The Eagles, for a second time. I was struck once again by the words of an older Joe Walsh, reflecting on his life:
"You know, there’s a philosopher who says, 'As you live your life, it appears to be anarchy and chaos, and random events, non-related events, smashing into each other and causing this situation or that situation, and then, this happens, and it’s overwhelming, and it just looks like what in the world is going on. And later, when you look back at it, it looks like a finely crafted novel. But at the time, it don’t.'"
As Emilee and I played Chutes and Ladders today, I was hit by that quote again. Life is falling down and climbing to the top and tumbling down again and your perspective is SO different at the beginning of the "game" than at the end. At the beginning, she was ready to throw in the towel and give up. At the end, she looked back and saw that the slides backwards and the forward accomplishments were all part of a big picture. They were nothing more than movement in different directions - all in an effort to reach the end of a game.
I didn't win. I wasn't finished yet. But I loved seeing her smiles, frowns and frustrations trying to reach the place she was meant to reach.
The key? She didn't give up. She kept going. What made it fun? Not winning. But the thrill of going back and forth, up and down, not knowing where you are, but just hoping that you will reach the end.
And in this Life, you always reach the end.
Enjoy the game.
Ohmygosh. Welcome back. I love reading anything you write. Or hearing anything you write and sing. I love you!
Posted by: Laura T | 01/17/2018 at 05:25 AM