How does Mahjong relate to our lives (beyond fun and distraction)?
The Game
I play Mahjong solitaire on my computer. It allows me to either not think or to ponder ideas that need to percolate, depending on my mood. The main premise of the game is simple: match pairs of tiles with the same image to clear the board.
In the game, there are billions of possible combinations. Despite this, the game can quickly shift from many open pairings to only one or two options, and finding those options can be surprisingly difficult.
What I often find most challenging is when faced with only a few options and feeling that any choice will quickly lead to losing. But then, making just that one choice opens an entire series of new moves that now go quickly and smoothly.
Choosing Our Moves
While the premise of the game is straightforward, the rules and layouts make it much more challenging. Because of this, the game is a good representation of how we go about dealing with making choices in our lives. To consistently win, you need to play with a strategy and pay attention to the choice of moves. Most often, the strategies I choose work well, but occasionally a board layout shows up where I have to allow the tiles to guide the moves – my usual strategies simply don’t work.
In our own lives, as with the game, we have constant choices we need to make, with a goal of peace, happiness, and health. Sometimes our choices are equal – each is just as optimal as another. At other times, we find our choices limited, we find ourselves restricted, but regardless, we always still have a choice (even if that choice is only about how we respond to the situation).
We may have difficulty seeing the best (or any) choice because of all that is in front of us. Or, we may find ourselves boxed in, with only the one or two choices available, but then after we decide, things open up for us again and start to flow and expand. And nearly always, we can’t see clearly beyond the choices we have yet to make – we can’t fully know the outcome of our choice until it’s made.
The Board of Life
Like the game board, our life at birth (e.g. our family, our location, our physical characteristics), is laid out for us. But from there, our choices guide how our life flows. Still, the board (circumstances) can throw surprises and challenges our way. We can stop making choices, but that means we don’t go anywhere. The only way we continue to move ahead is by continuing to make choices.
In the game, you can play, and even win, without a strategy, but the winning outcomes will be fewer. The more you focus on strategies, and consider how your choices move you towards or away from your goal, the better your chances of getting the outcome you want.
Choose Your Strategy
In your own life, consider your choices – have you been seeing the consistent results you would like? Are you using a strategy, applying an unconscious strategy you have learned, or are you simply making random choices? Is the strategy you use still working? Remember, at times, even the best strategy may need to shift or be dropped because the current board (your circumstances) are different from what you have learned to deal with.
Look at your strategy – consider if it does what you want it to. Be willing to change, to try differently, and see what new options suddenly open for you and allow more for your future.
Remember, when circumstances change, or your strategy is no longer working for you, it can help to have a different perspective, and to get a sense of what new options may be available to you. I can help you with that. Reach out, and we can talk.
