This book has really given new context to some valuable life lessons. Just the idea that anything is possible is such a brighter outlook to take than saying, “if this and that changed, then I could be happy”. This is placing the control into something outside of you, which can make everything seem bleak and dismal. By giving you the power to choose to engage conflict, it then becomes a fun game to play. Being the board allows us to be creative in overcoming challenges that other players have introducing into the game. It would seem absurd to tell your opponent that they are not allowed to sink your battleship, the fun part comes in when we ask, “What strategy will I use now that my battleship is sunk?” It becomes much less about winning or losing, but how you play the game.
I am reminded in this reading of a passage from the book Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse, where the main character responds to a potential employer’s asking of his qualifications. “I can think, I can fast, and I can wait.” This outlook of oneself is incredibly empowering. It states that no matter what is on the path ahead of us, we always have the ability and choice of how to deal with it.
It is such a foreign concept to our Western consumer-centric minds that it isn't the external that gives us "peace of mind" but what we do internally in our interaction with the external. Great quote from Siddhartha.
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