Stuck In a Blind Lane or A Checkmate: You See No Way Out
Theme of the week: Finding Another Way
“The only answer to the endless
chains of why, why, why is that
the alternatives dies”
— Daniel Dennet
‘Checkmate’ is the word originated from the game of chess that means
‘A position in which a player’s King is directly attacked by an opponent’s piece or pawn and has no further move to escape the check’. This is the end of the game as the attacking player wins it.
The word ‘checkmate’ is also used in real life to mean, “I just won!” In the game of chess you announce “checkmate” to declare that you have won the game since in this point no more moves left with your opponent to make an escape for the king or continue to play. It clearly means this is the climax when opponent is stuck and have no options to continue further. This is death of the king or defeat of the player.
Now think about the moves one has used till end of the game. In the game of chess whenever you move a piece you need to calculate possible next movements of both the players, and it must be planned accordingly to win the game or avoid the defeat.
Have you ever entered a blind lane and then get stuck at a point where no forward movement is possible? I have experienced it once or twice in my childhood when I used to enjoy aimless wandering in new streets and lane of the overcrowded part of the old city I was living in those days! Here it does not mean the end, but I had to come back by moving backward or finding my way to escape the trap by asking people available there for help.
So, the most important thing is we need to plan every move or take any decision in a way so that nothing can stop us in growing at any point of our life and always alternative ways (options) are available.
“Excellence is never an accident.
It is always the result of high
intention, sincere effort and
intelligent execution: It represents
the wise choice of many alternatives —-
choice, not chance, determines our destiny.”
—Aristotle
My Personal Experience:
Now let me tell you about my experience about ‘finding another way’! I have faced the problem in my personal life, or I have seen other people to suffer from this problem.
Reason behind this can be widely varied from a unsuccessful relationship to a terrible financial crunch. To get rid of the hindrance is neither easy nor it can be achieved overnight. After flowing hundreds of miles on the plane land, if a river decides to return its original source on the mountain top, it is not feasible. Similarly, we cannot suddenly discard all our beliefs and likings that we have been following since childhood but let me tell you, ironically that is what is required at this juncture.
One more suggestion: Go slow in your searching process, remember: you’re the best judge to decide which way will help you to come out from the trap. Other person can guide you to find out the way but finally solution lies with you only. They may run with you but will never be able to run for you.
Liberty Forrest : Thanks for inviting me to participate in this ‘weekly theme writing’ event.
You may also like to read this story written by TzeLin Sam in Medium.
