MAC – Month 11 – Week 4 – Reading – “Being the Board”

My sensei told me once that the difference between work and play is locus of control. If you choose to engage a challenge, you are able to have fun and express yourself. If you feel like the task is a burden and something that you have to do, it will always be work. Chapter 10 of “The Art of Possibility” seems to reflect this in the concept of “Being the Board”. It is often very easy for us to place ourselves at the mercy of the universe instead of saying that we are a part of its creation. Universe literally means, “one song”. It is this one song that we are all notes in, and doesn’t it make more sense to be in harmony with the music than to be in discord? Being willing to engage every challenge brings the control back into our hands, to the point where we are creating the beautiful music of the song.

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.