Lessons Learned

The summer Olympics are in the books and many athletes realized their dreams with shiny medals for their trophy cases. It is safe to say that many more athletes returned home without any hardware. That is the nature of competition. Hats off to all those who gave it their all and I am sure their experiences will be cherished and the lessons they learned will be most valuable.

I will never compete in the Olympics for obvious reasons but I think life-long lessons can be learned from something less challenging. Back when dinosaurs roamed the earth and there were no tablets, smartphones and streaming services, children were forced to play games face-to-face. These seemingly innocent games taught us life skills. Here are a few examples from my youth.

Enduring Adversity

Chutes and Ladders: Nothing sucked the air out of success like landing on the game square that sent you down the chute of despair just as you were arriving at the finish line. Smirks from your opponents added salt to the wound. You had two choices, pout or pretend it didn't matter. I suspect I chose the former.

Managing Power

Sorry: Were we ever truly sorry in that game? There was a giddy and perverse delight that often came with the chance to knock opponents back to their start positions. Decisions had to be made as to the extent of damage one would inflict upon others. Benevolence was probably not our top priority but we occasionally took pity upon our adversaries. Every move came with a consequence and the ultimate goal was to get all your tokens safely home, and stay on speaking terms with the other game players.

Endurance

Monopoly: Raise your hand if you ever truly finished this game. I know I never did. The game is filled with high hopes as money is distributed, tokens are selected and strategies are formed. Some players buy the cheap properties quickly and others invest in expensive parcels slowly and methodically. It can take hours, if not days to plod through all the twists and turns of rent, jail and treasure chests. Sadly, this game often ends in tears or an emphatic, "I quit!" A certain level of maturity is needed before this game is pulled out of the cupboard.

Emotional Control

Old Maid: This game can be played at a fairly young age as the players only need to match picture cards to play. The twist is the dreaded Old Maid card which can negate all your previous matches if you are left with it at the end of the game. Players draw cards blindly from their opponents and, of course, hope for the matches. A great deal of facial restraint is needed if you draw the OM. The goal is to keep your opponents unaware of the whereabouts of the OM card. It is also not uncommon for the player who passed along the OM to exhibit an emotional response of glee. It is truly a game of pure chance but there was a sense of skill we believed was possible if we learned to temper our affective responses.

I am not sure I learned the lessons I should have acquired with the games I played when I was young. But, I can say I have fond memories of playing games, sort of. I will turn you down if you ask me to play Monopoly, though. I am more of a Candy Land gamer.