Life is like a chess game, it requires patience and strategy. It also requires the thoughtful moving of many pieces and sometimes the sacrifice of a knight or a rook or a pawn to move us further along in the game. The chess piece we lose can represent a part of us, a relationship with someone or something, a behavior, a thought pattern, or perhaps a belief system that no longer serves us. A chess piece can represent strength and power.
Every piece on the chess board has a specific role, just as all the moving parts within us play a role. I’ve heard many times when I’m meditating on something, the chess pieces are being moved. This means stop asking “how” something is going to unfold, trust the process. It also means stop asking “why”. I realize I am playing a long game, it’s not something that can be rushed or forced. My agenda around the timing or the sequence of events is irrelevant. The game requires incredible patience, it requires solitude at times and the need to listen to the prompts and guidance coming in. Trust that each piece on the board provides you with the exact skill, intellect, emotional IQ, or whatever it is that you need to navigate the chess board.
I played chess as a child. I wasn’t a great player, but I did win on occasion. I lacked the patience and the ability to see a few moves ahead. As I’ve grown older, I see there are moving parts that I can’t anticipate or see. There is a higher cosmic alignment happening in my life moving people, experiences, timing, and chance encounters and opportunities on my chess board. There are things being orchestrated on a higher level that the human mind can’t comprehend. Sometimes when I played a game of chess, I would get lucky and win, but now in the game, I know we are all winners if we can get out of our own way.
We need to allow everyone to play their own game while we focus on ours. Our human aspect wants to control the timing and outcomes not only for ourselves, but for the people around us. We want to influence the lives of those we love because we think we know what’s best for everyone. We don’t. We must trust the process regardless of the stress and angst it generates for us. Remember in Harry Potter when Ron Weasley jumps on the knight and chess pieces are getting bashed right and left, and Hermione wants to run on the board and save him, but she can’t? That’s the metaphor for our lives. We must let everyone we love, make their own choices, allow them to fail and succeed at their own pace and cadence. Maybe, just maybe they will win the game. It doesn’t have to happen the way we want it to or unfold by our own agenda.
All of us are the masters of our own chess game. Sometimes we are the King or Queen, sometimes the pawn, the bishop or knight. Sometimes our movements or decisions are limited or restricted to the squares on the board in front of us and we see no way out of a situation. What I know for sure is there is always an answer. We may not like the consequence of the decision we make but after pondering the options, we must move a piece on the board. Do not allow fear to hold you back. Remaining in the same place, repeating the same mistakes repeatedly impedes our progress.
How do we get out of our own way and win the game? A HUGE game changer for me was releasing my agenda. I have zero agenda for the people around me. I accept where everyone is and allow them to be themselves! Can you imagine what a world it would be if everyone had the luxury of being themselves without disappointing anyone? Everyone gets to move their chess pieces wherever they want, sacrifice pieces, play an aggressive game or passive game. The beauty is we are all together on the chess board. We are facing each other and engaged in the dance. What matters is we are in the game and have pieces on the same board.
As I’ve grown older, I’ve become more thoughtful about what pieces of me are worth saving and those that are worth sacrificing. Through the process of healing my wounds and releasing aspects of myself that don’t align anymore with who I am, I’ve been able to advance and polish my game. I have nothing to prove. I have no desire to force anyone’s hand. I respectfully allow things to flow. I’ve developed a level of trust in the Universe and the natural order of things. I’m not forcing my game, I’m patiently observing and following my heart. I’ve got all the time in the world to see how my chess game plays out. The more I allow the current of life to carry me the less resistance I create, and the more the chess pieces tend to align for me. Openings on the board present themselves to me, and sometimes I find my pawn has made it all the way to other side of the board and I can become the queen I’m meant to be!
Although chess is a game of the mind and intellect, I’ve found that it’s effective to play from the heart. Open the heart and feel what the next move should be and honor the prompts. Be patient, because the best is yet to come. Allow the other players to play their game however they wish and be a gracious winner or loser. In the silence the answers will come. Always sacrifice only those pieces that are holding you back and make sure when you get to the end of the game you can exit with a perfect checkmate.
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