 Embracing Life's Lessons
 for Life Challenges
"How far you go in life depends on
your being tender with the young,
compassionate with the aged,
sympathetic with the striving and
tolerant of those who are weaker than you
- because someday you will be all of these."
- George Washington Carver
to hear Cat's In The Cradle
My six year old son Tyler loves the game Candyland, which means I get to play quite often. For those of you who have never played or forgotten how the game works, here are the rules: two or more players take turns picking coloured cards from a deck. Each player moves his or her gingerbread figure along the board, according to the colour drawn. However, there are a few twists and turns.
About ten of the cards have a character instead of a colour, which will either push you back or allow you to leap forward, depending on which character you draw. Players also run the risk of losing their turn if they land in the molasses swamp, gooey gumdrops or lollipop woods. I have been known to spend entire games trying to escape from these spots.
Yesterday, Tyler and I played Candyland, but after he lost two games in a row (what can I say, I'm ruthless) he yelled in frustration, "I don't want to play anymore unless I can take these dumb cards out." He proceeded to remove all the character cards from the deck since they had been responsible for sending him back just as he was about to cross the finish line in the past two games. Then he announced one rule change specifically for my benefit: "Mommy, if you get stuck in the molasses again, you can get out with any coloured card, O.K.?" I was curious as to what Tyler's new version of Candyland would be like, so I agreed to play.
Granted, knowing that I wasn't going to get stuck in the molasses pit took the edge off the game, but it also removed an element of challenge and excitement. And without the character cards that always added a sense of surprise, the boredom set in quickly. Tyler soon declared the game "not fun anymore" and picked up a jigsaw puzzle to play with instead.
I later contemplated how Candyland was similar to life itself. Just like the gingerbread figures, most of us plod along at a fairly constant pace, expecting that our entire lives will continue on in this steady, predicable, forward-like motion. But, as in Candyland, life holds some twists, turns and backslides for us.
In the middle of our journey, we may draw a card that sends us back to the starting point: relationships end, financial ruin hits or established careers crumble. Physcial or mental ailments may be the card that forces us back to square one. These losses always involve hard, often painful work. It is normal and understandable that we wish away these "character cards" in life that send us reeling backwards. However, these life setbacks or crises often help us discover our true selves, our spirits and our connection to others. Reverend Tom Hyder of Lake Harriet Community Church in Minneapolis explains, "It's been my experience with hundreds of clients that Spirit will often orchestrate an illness or accident when it is time for our wake-up call. As we get knocked out of our daily pattern and begin to search for reasons, it is the very search that will begin us on our path of remembering that we are truly spiritual beings in a physical form."
In the game of Candyland, cards are drawn randomly and have no real meaning. But in the game of life, our cards are carefully selected by our loving Creator who knows exactly what lessons we need to learn and when. Let us each be open to the gifts of grace, wisdom and discernment as we journey through life. Dear Creator, help us learn the lessons you lovingly provide for us. May we always embrace the game of life with an abundance of love, a sense of playfulness and a willingness to take risks. Using the letters in Candyland as our guide, here are some helpful tips for all the games of life:
Change is constant. Learn how to handle it.
Attitude is everything. Take a good look at yours.
Never give up.
Deal with your emotions or you too will get stuck in the molasses swamps of life.
Yes! Go for it! The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. Take it today!
Laughter. Develop a sense of humour to deal with life's ups and downs.
Adapt and adjust. You have the capacity to be more flexible than you are now.
No. Say no to life-draining events and people and save your energy for life-giving activities. Play with "positive players in life" as much as possible.
Dare to dream! Then pray for the courage, grace and wisdom needed to follow your dreams.
© Mary Rose Remington
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A Practical Guide to Life
 1. There is reason and purpose and harmony in the Universe. We are a part of all that and a great amount of our work in this life is to learn that lesson.
2. We define life in terms of our body. You may like or hate your body, but it is the mechanism that defines what we call life. Most of us start out believing that we are our body, and it takes considerable effort on our part to overcome the complications of that misunderstanding.
3. We are here to learn lessons. That is what life is about. Each day we will have the opportunity to learn lessons. You may like the lessons or you may think them stupid or irrelevant.
4. There are no mistakes, only lessons. Growth is a process of trial and error experimentation. The experiences that we label failures are as valuable a part of the process as the experiments that ultimately work.
5. A lesson is repeated until it is learned. A lesson will be presented to you in various forms until you have learned it. When you have completely learned a lesson, you will then go on to the next one.
6. Learning lessons does not end. This is what life is about; as long as there is life, there are lessons.
7. What you make of this life is up to you. You already have everything you will ever need to learn your lessons. There is nothing you have to do first.
8. Every thing you experience in life is neutral. The only value of anything outside yourself is determined by the way you experience it.
9. When you have learned that lesson, it will be a powerful tool you can use to set up more lessons.
10. The Universe will bring you everything you need to learn your lessons. The value of your experiences is determined by you. The Universe will never bring you more than you can handle.
11. What you do with those resources is up to you. Whether your choice is to learn or to fail, the Universe will support your choice, and bring whatever you need to manifest it.
12. Whatever you choose, EVERYTHING WILL BE OKAY !!! From time to time, you will forget this.
© Charles Fitzsimmons
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"Be the change you want to see in the world." Gandhi 
"A person's true wealth is the good he or she does in the world." Mohammed (PBUH)
"All things are possible to those who believe." Jesus
"Life is a bridge; enjoy while crossing, but don't build a castle upon it." Upanishads
