Battlefield or Playground:  How do you see life?

One of the things that can make a big difference to your sense of flourishing as you get older, is your basic framework, the paradigm though which you see your life.

I lived the first part of my life trapped inside a paradigm that said that life was an unfathomable game, with rules that changed frequently (and always when I got close to figuring them out). I had to play the game alone, and there was no way to stop it. Not much fun.

But then I grew up. Over time, I decided that I was going to change my life metaphor, to something more useful. I decided to live as if life was a series of experiments and adventures, so trial and error was the go, failures were fine – and I was in charge of the rules! It took a while to really believe it and live accordingly, but once I did, my life changed. I have fun.

So, how do you see your life? Is it:

• A game
• A struggle
• A blank page
• A kid’s playground
• A snakes and ladders game
• A jungle
• A battlefield
• A journey
• An adventure
• A race
• A waiting room (for the hereafter, or until your prince(ss) shows up…)
• A meaningless exercise

A riddle

Something else? Once you have your metaphor, think about it in some detail. For example, if it is a game, what kind? Who is playing? Are you good at it? Do you know the rules? Are you having fun? Are you learning a lot? Do the rules change? Can you change the rules? Can you stop playing (would you like to stop playing?)