While my husband and I waited for our lunch to be served in a small country restaurant, we noticed the flip side of the menu displayed some games to keep kids entertained. Since we consider ourselves to be rather kid-like, I challenged him to a competition for each game.
First was tic-tac-toe. We played each one quickly and were evenly matched. Each of our four games ended up as a tie.
Life Lesson: Sometimes everybody wins and other times nobody wins. Just do your best and stay awake whenever it is your turn to move.
Next game was a connect the dots picture of an octopus.
My approach was to methodically look at each number and connect the corresponding dot.
My husband, on the other hand, just traced the legs and body of the Octopus, following the course. That was a win for him by a landslide.
Life Lesson: Why be so careful and methodical when you know where you’re going to end up? In other words, sometimes you can lose the game by being too careful. Trust what you know.
Our third placemat game was a maze where we had to find our way from the start to the finish line, tracing our path, avoiding getting stuck in dead ends. This was a challenge, since the options were many and there was apparently only one clear way. Both of us struggled trying to get to the FINISH line. I did notice, however, that when I took my time and looked ahead and planned, I was more successful.
Life Lesson: if your course is not clear, take some time to create a plan. Otherwise, you may have to keep on going back to START over and over again.
Next game was FIND A WORD. The letters were so small and the words so many, it wasn’t fun to play, so we quit.
Life Lesson: Just because a challenge exists doesn’t mean you have to take it. Play the games of life that are fun, unless your life or life savings depend on it.
Our final game and the one that stimulated us the most was Find the Hidden Pictures.
Life Lesson: Stay focused as you play the game of life. Look beyond the obvious to find all the things that you’re searching for. If you get stuck, change your perspective and you will see the hidden gems that had been right before your eyes all along.
Just as we were completing our game time, our food arrived giving us even more to chew as we digested our life lessons.
My husband was declared the winner since he was faster than I was most of the time. The good news is that when it comes to life, there isn’t a competition and we are all winners if we enjoyed playing the game.