Greetings Reader!

In the midst of preparing for graduation and an international move, we've been taking a trip down memory lane.

While cleaning out our game cabinet, we had a fun and interesting conversation about the board game "Life." It's been around for a long time, with updates and refreshed graphics. Game of Life is an American classic board game where players spin a wheel to move along a path of life events, such as education, career, marriage, and children.

👉The objective is to accumulate the most wealth and assets by the end of the game. We'd like to share our musings with you.

Karin: Each person in our family has a favorite game. I'm a "Rummikub" fan. Hands down, MeiMei's was "Life." I recall that at age 5 she thought being an attorney would be fun, because she could get paid to "argue." 😂

Elena: The Game of Life was one of my favorite games when I was little. I loved everything about the game from the different cards you could draw to trying to go down certain paths to get the most money or most children. I loved the vibrant colors of the game and trying to figure out how I could rig the game so I would get the big bills, the most kids, and my favorite house.

Karin: Over the years, my husband (an educator) often pointed out that the job of "teacher" was the lowest paid. Based on the objectives of the game to become wealthy, it was a disadvantage to be an educator. The game didn't offer other "rewards" or perks for making a difference in people's lives or investing in the future. Not even a bonus for a longer summer holiday! The Game of Life didn't present the career of being a teacher as something that was valuable. I think we once discussed taking a Sharpie marker and increasing the salary of the teacher career card, just to give it an equal chance!

Elena: Now that I’m about to graduate from high school and start university, I realize that The Game of Life actually only starts at the time the players are starting university or go straight into the workforce! 👩‍🎓It makes me wonder how much more my life will hold as I start this next chapter. It also makes me consider how I will compare the 18 years I’ve lived with the next decades of my life.

Karin: This blew me away! Does life begin at high school graduation?! I'm shocked that I didn't realize that the game was overlooking all the choices and impact that kids have before the age of 18. I guess it aligns with the question we ask young people, "What do you want to do when you grow up?" Which inadvertently misses the value that they hold now as children or teens.

Elena: One of the qualms I now have with The Game of Life is that the way to win is by having the most money at retirement. 💰And while money is certainly a key factor in life, I don’t subscribe to the idea that money should be anyone’s end goal. Even when I would play the game as a little girl I wasn’t interested in having money for money’s sake – I just wanted all the babies so I could fill up all of the cars!

Karin: The Game of Life is a simple game, which can be fun to play. But it also has a simplistic view of the world and a set of values, which actually don't match up well with our own. ✨I wonder, why aren't there more fun games that instill the values that we want to cultivate?

Elena: Life shouldn’t only be about money. It should be about making a difference and life satisfaction – we should pursue hobbies and talents, everyone should discover their vocation and look at life through that lens. Life can become so much more than material wealth. It should be more than that.

Karin: While sorting through our games, I decided to keep The Game of Life. I taped up the corners of the worn box and gathered up stray pieces. I have lots of great memories of MeiMei playing it. I'll always remember how she would stack up the babies well beyond the capacity of the car--she needed a bus for all of her children! 💖I'm keeping it for nostalgia. I think we'll pull it out and play it again in a few years, as MeiMei travels further along her path in real life. For certain we'll have more reflections and interesting conversations, as well as some fun.

Elena: While I can’t rig my actual life to get certain things, I’m still excited to think about the many options I have open to me and what paths I can choose in life.💕

Karin: I don't advocate living in a bubble or in seclusion from the world. There's no way to remove values and influences that differ from your own. Instead lean in and figure out what you do believe, how your values and faith intersect with your daily life...even down to the small things like games. ✨In terms of growing relationships, how we play, and who we play with, sometimes matter more than what we are playing.

What do you think about The Game of Life? How do you find fun, satisfaction, meaning and impact in your daily life?

👩‍👧Thankful to be sharing life with you, Karin & Elena

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