Playing The Game of Life with my children teaches me about life

Yesterday afternoon, I played the board game, The Game of Life, with my children. And it was a pivotal moment for me. Pivotal because as I was playing the game with them, I was reminded that life is about the choices we make. Choosing to attend University so I started the game $100,000 in the hole then spinning to move squares.

Landing on the spot where I had to choose my career and ended up as a veterinarian. Spinning again to land on the spot of buying my Starter Home. Looking at which home to buy and which one I could most afford and profit on. Going for the least expensive house with the same return as the two others in its category when I wanted the most expensive home because it suited me best. But opting to be conservative until I understood the game. After all, my career card had been a veterinarian earning $100,000 with a maximum salary of $180,000. I didn't want to get too far in debt. But my mind was telling me to go for it. But I didn't.

Then on the next spin I landed on the square where I could sue any player for $100,000. Shrugging because I could have purchased the more expensive home if I would have listened to my inner guide. But I let fear and judgment cloud my thoughts and chose not to listen. Seeing the power of choice right there and then.

And as the game progressed, I went from strength to strength. Landing on square after square that made me wealthier and wealthier. And I sat back and thought is this what life is all about, getting wealthier and wealthier? Is it really this easy to make money when you live life for you and not for anyone else?

And then at the end of the game, I crossed the finish line first, retiring early with over $3 million. But my life had gone by so quickly because I had chosen to forgo having a family. Forego making real friends. All I did was make money.  And suddenly I was at the end of my life in the game, retired with no one to share the money with. Nothing really to spend it on. And I was alone. Waiting. It was a very strange feeling.

As I sat and waited for my children to finish the game. Watching the way they think. My son choosing to take the safe route. But still ending up with no family. My daughter choosing the family route. Hoping to have a family but for some reason she did not. All of us ending the game with lots of money but nothing really to do with it.

And as I waited for them, I looked out of the kitchen window at the perfect day outside. The sky clear blue. Minimal clouds obscuring it. The tall avocado tree with its dark green leaves. The expansive lawn. The trampoline with no one jumping on it. The birds flying across the lawn. The sun streaming through the leaves of the trees, I inhaled deeply and looked back at my children and realized I have a truly wonderful life.

No it may not be filled with material riches. May not be filled with the opportunity to be at home all the time with my children as it once did. May not be filled with me having the time to write every moment possible. It may not be the dream life I was hoping for but it is a dream life. A life filled with love and caring. Family and togetherness. A home that is very comfortable. Children that love each other and me as I do them.  A husband who while we were playing was fitting a new sink in the children’s bathroom. A husband I love and have loved for over 23 years. And I am loved in  return by him. I exhaled slowly as I realized just how much I really do have to be grateful for. How much I take for granted. How much my life is what I make it.

I looked at the faces of my children. Seeing how much they are growing and have grown right before my eyes. Thinking about how important it is to be in the moment with them and my life because as I saw through my children’s ages, life passing us by so quickly when we are too busy projecting about what’s to come. Rather than focusing on what is and being grateful for every moment that we have. As I did yesterday.

And you know what I felt so full. So full of life. So full of love. So full of gratitude for the life I am living. Have lived and will live. For I have chosen to mother two beautiful children. Marry a jack of all trades man. To be the woman I am, was and am becoming. And the rewards are always there. Have always been there. And always will be there. Whenever I remember just how fortunate my life is. Whenever I remember to be grateful.

And for the game of life with my children on a lazy and beautiful Sunday afternoon, teaching me to remember it’s not the destination that counts. It’s the journey along the way. The detours. The hesitations. The mistakes. The rewards that matter the most. And for this lesson, I am truly grateful.

Here’s to another week of life ahead of me with gratitude, grace and love.