a game. that we can be sure of. you are playing against yourself, mainly against you of yesterday. the rules keep changing, and the winners in your mind keep being graded on different criteria. what you want to win when you are five, perhaps an ice cream cone, is different then what you want to win at 25, perhaps a date to share the ice cream with. your friends, your family, society around you, are simply there to see you win or laugh at your losses. they are in their own game, and all games are being played simultaneously and they must be hard.

the reason it has to be difficult is the same reason that you would give up on any game that was not a challenge. boredom would creep in. the degree of difficulty makes the outcome matter. it gives us reason and those challenges come to define us and separate us in the scoring mechanism. in our own mind, we create destinations and challenges that in nature is known as survival. we put in place complex and challenging situations so we do not wallow and wither, so we have a point of being here and acting and playing.

knowing that it is all a game, and knowing that it is difficult, the last part is easy enough. its to keep playing. keep putting quarters in, keep getting up and brushing off your clothes, keep at it. remember that its being played on multiple levels, both physically and mentally. there is always somewhere to improve, and that your attention and participation matter. remember to play well with others, and if you are having a hard time on your own or have had enough for the day, help others play theirs. as jim morrison so poetically said, no one gets out here alive, so play well, play hard and play to the end. dont look back, or foreward.