What other names did your parents consider for you?
Actually, they only told me they thought of 'Vanessa'. Apparently for a short while I had no name. I was labelled as 'Baby of ___' (insert my Dad's name).
The Life Series - Part 1
Forrest Gump said, "Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get."
When I was young, I used to play with my mum's Reversi board, thinking they looked like pieces of coin-shaped chocolates. This evening, as a dear friend of many years whipped out her Reversi board and challenged me to a match, the little memory I had of the game came back.
I've never been good at chess because it made me spend too much time thinking, and I got impatient. My record for Reversi was fairly mixed as well, and I hadn't played the game for several years. I was fully prepared to lose.
As I played, I gradually remembered the strategy of the game and began to see it as a representation of life. All the rash decisions I made before, were for immediate gain and long-term strategic loss. Once you cede a corner, you can never take it back. On the other hand, you may gain a whole cluster of squares, but lose them in a few moves if your opponent takes you on both sides. And even if you gain some ground on the sides, the tables can turn if you again allow yourself to be sealed off at both ends.
The game reminded me that almost everything in life is temporal. In the beginning, wins and losses are small but they accumulate. Every decision counts, although you can still bounce back from a few bad moves if you make more good ones to compensate for it.
In short, up to a certain point, the mistakes you make can be redeemable if you try hard enough. So if you find yourself in a losing situation, don't give up. Sometimes you need to lose a few tiles to gain more back.
Such strategy games also teach us how to plan in advance. We shouldn't just plan for the next step but for the next few steps as well. Don't make assumptions because the unexpected can happen.
Like in real life, there is temptation. You want to seize power immediately with a swipe, imagining how most of the board will switch to your colour. But how much of this territory can be just as easily returned to your opponent? You may want something (or someone) really badly, but how much good will that do for you in the long run? Do you have the will power to resist instant gratification and endure the pain of anonymity, waiting for your turn to strike and turn the tables?
The game also taught me that quality is better than quantity, in strategic terms. It is better to gain just one tile that you cannot lose, than to gain many that can easily turn renegade. Just like it is better to have one good friend than many fair-weathered ones. (I hope I was being a good friend despite not being a gracious guest!)
Sometimes the opponent may be very strong in one area. That's when you stick yourself in the middle and prevent him from expanding further, in either direction. I'd call it the David and Goliath principle. If you have limited powers in one area, focus them to be a pain in the neck (or a stone in the forehead) that won't go away. In short, you can still put the little resources you have to good use.
