Chutes and Ladders

Did you ever play Chutes and Ladders when you were a kid?

When it’s your turn, you roll the dice (or maybe it’s a spinner, I can’t remember) and you get to make a move. Sometimes you encounter a ladder and you get to jump forward. Sometimes you land on a chute and slide back. Sometimes just a plain square and you patiently wait for your turn again.

Life is a lot like Chutes and Ladders, though sometimes people tend to take a different approach when looking at the game of life (that is of course life in general, not the actual Game of Life, which is a whole different thing).

Let’s take a look at it and you can see what I mean.

When your turn comes around, one of three things can happen.

You land on a plain square. Whatever the number, you get as far as you can and then go back to waiting and working until you get another chance to roll. Moving one square at a time like this can seem to take an eternity! It gets frustrating, and can be discouraging when you see other people around you getting ladders and shooting upwards towards their dreams.  The most important thing to remember when you are on this path is that no matter how many squares you get to move, you are still moving forward! Keep rolling, keep moving.

You land on a chute. Oh no! You have hit a setback. Some chutes are short … you miss a deadline, have an argument with your love, catch a cold and get stuck in bed all day, whatever… but you can recover from those pretty quickly. Others are significant and can even take you all the way back to the start. These can be devastating, and they can take a long time to come back from. The most important thing to remember here is that you are still on the board! Roll again and keep rolling. Most setbacks are not as bad as they seem. Even if you are at the beginning, you can only go forward from here.

You land on a ladder. Woo hoo! Something or someone has given you a chance to get ahead. This situation can be a little different. Generally speaking, we are conditioned to expect to have setbacks, or to have to work hard, one step at a time, and life’s ladders can seem too good to be true. But when you are playing the board game and you land on a ladder you don’t say “oh no thank you, I need to stop on every square.” Do you? Of course not! Yes, some of life’s ladders can be risky, and you don’t want to jump into anything that you know is bad for you, but most of the time that isn’t the case. The thing to remember here is that a little risk can be just what you need! It can propel you forward in ways you may not have realized.

So there you have it, life as a game of Chutes and Ladders. Every day, every project, every new relationship, etc. is a new roll of the dice.

You can move from wherever you are. Setbacks happen sometimes, but they are not the end of the world (even if they feel like it at the time). Take a little risk and enjoy the unexpected boosts that come your way.

Most importantly, have fun playing the game!

______________________________________________

Speaking of fun and games, do you have big plans for this summer?

No…not plans for projects & programs.

Plans for playing & enjoying the sun & being silly!   This summer will NOT sneak by you!

This summer, you have Camp Kidagain!

Camp Kidagain is your chance to take back summer vacation, by turning it into a game. No work, just serious fun.  Read more here