Are you Playing Checkers or Are you playing Chess?

I like checkers but I hate chess. I think I know why.

With chess, it takes too much effort to learn the rules and play the game the right way.

I want my games to be fun, and give me immediate gratification, like checkers. I want to be crowned king and move about the board freely.

I can’t help it. I’m a greedy, impatient being. I also know my impatience is the reason for many my failures. This is why I think chess is hard.

Lately, I’ve been seeing parallels between the goals I’ve set for myself, and learning chess:

• Goals are being aware of each piece and what their role is.
• Goals are understanding that you can’t make a move without the help of another.
• It takes a significant amount of focus to know when to attack, and when to defend.
• Like chess, It may take thousands of hours to master your goals. Even then, you may come up against a force better than you.
• It’s not supposed to be easy, at least not at first. You will continually come up against scenarios and challenges trying to prevent you from winning.
• It gets really difficult to quiet the mind, completing the smallest of actions, knowing that it is a part that makes up the whole.