Being IN the world is like playing a board game. I know the rules of the game and I know I am playing a game. The knowingness or awareness that I am only playing the game is being IN the game. The moment I forget that I am playing the game and I think the game is real, I become OF the game. When we are in the game we plan, strategize, and make our moves, yet all the while we are still very aware that we are only playing a game.



Think of chess. This is a game that can be played on many levels. As a player you are cognizant of the fact that you are only playing. You, as an intelligent being, plan and strategize the best you can with your understanding of the subtleties of the game. You know that you are only using the pieces and that you are not the pieces themselves.

Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, or sometimes you come to a stale mate. In any of these situations you still have learned something from the game itself. You learned how to watch the relationship between your actions and the re-actions of your opponent. You also realize that without the opponent, there would not have been a game to play at all. So you are grateful for the opportunities that your opponent provided to you during your game.

Let's say you win most of the time you play. You may begin to think you are pretty good at playing and have mastered the game. Then you find a new opponent, and this opponent has been playing for a much longer time. All of a sudden you feel like a beginner. All of the old strategies just don't work anymore. So you observe, you learn from your defeats, and you get better. Pretty soon you are able to match wits equally with this partner. Once again you begin to feel pretty confident that you have mastered the game...until you find another new opponent and the process begins again! Each time you master one level of play, you move up to a new level and begin to learn through observation and experience all over again. In words this may seem repetitive and dull, almost like a punishment. Yet, on some level, you must find it entertaining or you would choose to stop playing.

Sometimes in the game of Life, we forget that we are playing a game at all. We get so caught up in the drama of the game and the outcome that we forget what it is really about. In that moment of forgetfulness we become OF the game. We forget that we are playing with pieces on a chessboard and begin to believe that we ARE the pieces on the chess board. Now at anytime we choose, we can remember that we are playing a game, and that this game is not Who We Really Are. We can choose to remember that the point of the game is to learn through observation and experience, to remain aware that we have mastered many levels of understanding and still have many more to go! When we can remember to be in the game but not of the game, the game becomes much more fun to play!

So now I ask you, "Are you IN the game or OF the game?"

Copyright (c) 2008 Kathy Karlander