Life as a board game: The game of Life

 

Life as a board game : The game of life

Adolescence is like a board game, more specifically the game of life. Each path is a decision one must make to the ultimate arrangement of life, and each move is shaped by chance to where you will end up, leaving you with choices to consider at each turn in the road. Continuously these decisions, big or small are the unfolding of events that contribute to our journey through living. 

Along the journey of the game of life you will encounter different symbols that signify many aspects and stages of adolescence. The board itself represents the world you must navigate full of routes that split or intersect, allowing you to decide which path is best suited for your travels ahead. The car marks your social world and the people who ride with you influence where you go. The peg inside the car represents identity as it’s constantly developing through each stage of the game. In adolescence, relationships evolve, some passengers might stay for longer and others only join for a short stretch, but each person who steps into your car will influence the way you navigate the road ahead. 

Life, much like any board game, is shaped by rules which you are expected to adhere to. Although life does not come with specific written instructions one must navigate the hidden expectations that are expected of us at such a young age. The rules of adolescence come from conditions set upon us of loved ones, school pressures, and social norms. They influence your behavior and choices, and the outcomes can be represented as a ‘good move’ or a ‘bad move’. These rules are set in place to help guide you or provide you with a sense of direction on your journey. 

When encountering action cards in the game, they symbolize unexpected moments of adolescence, such as opportunities, challenges, and surprises. The cards might seem like a setback, but they teach valuable lessons about patience and growth while they contribute to shaping your steps. Unexpected challenges are part of life and how you navigate them will be watched upon by the viewers of your life. Each navigation encounter will serve as a steppingstone to building your resilience, perseverance, and determination to complete the task presented to you. Often you will seek guidance from close friends, loved ones or onlookers in your car, but in the end, you are the only one who can make the decision and learn from the outcome.

One of the first major choices in the game of life is much like the real-life decision in late adolescence of deciding whether to pursue education or jump straight into a career. This fork in the road connects to pressures placed on adolescence to choose a direction before fully understanding the commitment and demand it requires. Careful consideration of your choice is advised, but with lack of experience in the real game of life sometimes we can choose the bumpy path that was not suited for us. It just so happens in both the game and real life that on the journey we will encounter a crossroad and can make a new choice to the path of fulfillment. New opportunities are always on the horizon if we choose to look for them.

In the game, the wheel decides how far you move. In adolescence time is what moves you whether you're ready or not. Both happen to be uncontrollable aspects of life. You can control what you do with your time, and you can control how hard you spin the wheel but you cannot control what number your spin lands on, nor can you control how fast or slow the seconds in your life move. What you can control is how you respond to both. The wheel stops based purely on luck. And the feeling of time stops in reference to profound experiences or moments of intense focus. In the game of Life, unpredictability is around every move, with new routes to be explored as you advance on the board. Some bring rewards and others bring challenges. From these detours one can blossom and acquire new perspectives or skills from being deeply immersed in the experience or step through the moment unrealizing what they just went through. 

As the game unfolds, it’s impossible not to notice where the other players are on the board, comparison is a constant in adolescence that feels unavoidable. From how many friends they have on the journey with them to their influences of loved ones or the privilege they come from. You may catch yourself questioning why someone else is ahead of you or how they make it look so easy and effortless. Curiosity is always at the heart of what is happening to and for others around you. The game is a reminder that every piece moves differently and not one single route is to determine success or failure. Success or failure is at the mercy of the individual determining what success or failure may look like to them.

Reaching the end of the board game isn't determined by how much money, property, or chance cards a player accumulates, it depends on what one values and how they define their own success. Celebration and comparison happen at the end where one can ultimately decide what their level of happiness with the avenues they took to get there and what lessons they learned along the way. Perhaps the goal was never to win at all, but to live fully within each turn, to laugh when chance surprised us, to preserve when challenges appeared, and to cherish the company of those on the board beside us. In life, as in the game, what truly matters is not where we end, but on how we moved through it.

~Jenika Harrison