The Game of Life

"There was never yet an uninteresting life. Such a thing is an impossibility. Inside of the dullest exterior there is a drama, a comedy, and a tragedy."   -Mark Twain, "The Refuge of the Derelicts"

All literature is based on the premise that all human life is interesting.  We keep telling the same stories over and over because they captivate us and hold us in their literary grip.  News stories, novels, biographies, televison shows, and movies are all based on our love of the well-told story. 

We watch the drama of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear plant in Japan with facination.  The idea that power plant workers would risk their lives in an heroic struggle to tame the nuclear dragon seems mythic to us.  We seem drawn to this life and death struggle like moths to the flame.

Perhaps we are drawn because it is our story too.  We seem to forget from time to time that there are no winners and losers in life.  It's just life.  We often focus on the wrong things.  We often work far too hard on trivial pursuits.  We often worry too much about winning and too little about facing our own dragons.

I met a man recently who has slowly lost everything over the past two years.  He has lost his job, his home, his standing in the world, and his marriage.  His life over the past months has been a slow spiral down.  What amazed me was the fact that he was down but not out.  He looked at me and said, "It's just life."

I have experienced a little life myself.  Ten years ago we lost everything.  It was a terrifying experience, and I would not wish the experience on anyone else, but the good news is that we survived it.  Best of all, the past ten years have been the happiest and most fulfilling years of my life.   

Mark Twain knew that "a drama, a comedy, and a tragedy" is part of every life.  I think deep down inside we all know it too.  After all, it never was about winning and losing; it was always about playing the game well. 

So go ahead and step up to the plate.  What are you afraid of?  Spring training is over, and it's time to play ball.  Anything is possible.  You could get a single, drive a home run into the right field bleachers, get hit by a 95-mile-an-hour fastball, or strike out.  It's April.  It's just time to play.