The Game of LIFE Is Your Greatest Game That Will Ever Be Played

Written by Alberta Parish

It is always a treasure and privilege when you can do exactly what it is that you love to do and preferably make a lot of money doing it. Sometimes, people end up in life doing things they don't want to do. But if you can take whatever talent or skills and use it in ways that uplift and influence others, then you probably have already exceeded expectations. 

The game that is called LIFE is probably the greatest game that will ever be played. In the game of life as in sports, there's winners and losers. Now, this doesn't mean losing is always negative. Sometimes, you lose one thing and gain something else in the process that is far greater than the loss. 

By losing something very dear to me, I have gained a greater love and understanding for people. Until you lose something that is irreplaceable is when you find yourself. You find who you are at the very core of your being.

When you look at yourself in the mirror, who do see in the mirror staring back at you? Many people go through life without purpose. Many have all kinds of struggles with alcohol and drug addictions. Many don't even know if they're going to wake up alive after their latest alcohol and drug binge. But what keeps you alive is the will to live. Dying can be easy, even effortless for some people. It is living with yourself and detrimental choices you've made is what's difficult for some.

The choice to do good to others. The choice to be a kind soul. The choice to not hate. These are all choices I made a while ago. Because I made these choices, I no longer see the quote on quote "White Guy" as threatening to my survival in America. The anger and rage I felt for so long just dissipated as if it was never there.  

It reminds me of the 1998 drama film, American History X. The lead character played by Edward Norton was a neo-Nazi leader who had killed a black man and ended up in prison where he was raped by one of his own while in the shower area. Over time, he developed a change of heart and earned early release from prison. He went back home to his family, and recognized his younger brother already under neo-Nazi indoctrination who was later killed by a black teen and classmate. The story was set in Long Beach, California. This may have been based on a true story. He had a change of heart while in prison serving time for manslaughter.

Although I've never been behind bars or been a part of any black identity extremist group, I recognize the same energy that this neo-Nazi leader had in the film American History X was the same energy I was becoming all too acquainted with by way of social media and my association with the conscious community. I didn't dive off the cliff but I went to the edge and peeked over. 

When it comes to hatred, there are no winners. The way that race relations have played out in this year alone not only in politics but also in sports is a huge problem because while politics have always been divisive, sports is meant to unify us across all socio-economic backgrounds, nationalities and ethnicities.

I guess we all can bitch about how unfair the world is but can you also be honest about yourself? 

The way that some people go through life always at odds, always terrified of what might happen, and always in fighter mode is the quickest way to block out whatever good thing could present itself to them in their lives. Don't ever give up the opportunity to be happy. You know how many people wish they were happy with themselves? They wish when they look at themselves in the mirror, they can be proud of the face staring back at them.

Just like many, I'm figuring out the game called LIFE, and I don't always get it right. Sometimes, I mess up. I am sometimes my own worst enemy. But I am working on that.  

I don't think anything I've learned in my first 20 years of life could've prepared me for some of the situations in which I found myself. I had a couple good things work in my favor to get me through some of these tough times, which were my mother and the church. More specifically, my pastor. No matter what I did, my mother and pastor never turned their backs on me. Unconditional love is not something that comes about every day for everybody. One of the worst things you could ever do to the human spirit is love that person on some condition that he or she must meet your standards or else you won't love them. Did you ever really love them at all? Definitely don't love a man or woman who's whipping your ass, or being verbally, and/or emotionally abusive to you. But real love doesn't come with condition. You either love unconditionally or you don't. 

The End