I like the metaphor of life as a game. I’ve had friends object because it trivializes life, or seems to, but does it really?

I mean you can “play your heart out”, “play like your life depended on it”, “play like there’s no tomorrow”. Games don’t have to be trivial at all.

One of the reasons I like this is because, well, games are fun! That’s kinda the point, right? So, saying life is a game is like saying “Joy is the point!”

Sure, you can be deadly serious about winning a game, but you still know that at the end of the day it’s all about having fun—or why play? (We’re leaving professionals out of this metaphor…)

There’s no point in playing other than to enjoy some moments of challenge, interaction, connection, whatever it is that turns us on. It’s when we forget it’s a game that we get all serious, and fear starts to clam us up and shut us down.

The other thing I like about this point of view is that we just make them up, these games. We know they don’t mean anything outside of what WE say.

Putting the big round thing through the metal hoop, or the little round thing in the hole in the ground. Throwing and catching the oblong thing while running. Hitting the hard, flat object with a stick while sliding on a cold, slippery surface. Hitting the small round thing with a stick as far as you can and then running around the shape of a diamond.

These things don’t mean anything except what we SAY they mean.

Doesn’t that feel freeing? It does for me.

It “disappears” all the heavy meaning I tend to load myself down with so I’m free to just run and play and be silly like a child. Playing full out because I want to. No agenda, just the game, throwing myself into it whole-heartedly just for the fun of it.

So what if we approached life that way? Knowing in the back of our minds that it’s a game, that we made it up, but playing for all we’re worth! Trying as hard as we can to win (’cause that’s the game), but not taking it or ourselves too seriously.

Giving it all we’ve got, feeling the exhilarating rush of being alive, in the zone, in the moment, right here, right now. Playing!

I like this perspective because it let’s us take chances we might not otherwise take. Because, really, what have we got to lose? It’s just a game, right?!

What do you think about seeing life as a game—is this a good thing? I’d love to hear your thoughts.