•  
•  
•  
•  
•  
•  

• DAILY PONDERINGS
• ARTICLES
• BOOKS
• VIDEOS
• NEWS / PRESS
• The Dr. Andrew Thorn Show

Ruthless Uno

 

We played “Ruthless Uno” last night around the Thanksgiving
table. Our bellies were full, the house was warm and the cards were flying. The
noise level was at an all time high. The arguing was minimal; the fun was
incredible. Everybody was involved in some way. I fell in love again with life
and my family.

Being here together in this beautiful fall season is
bringing additional awareness to me about the seasons of life. I love where I
am at in life. As we sat at the Uno Table, I thought about each of our journeys
as we play The Game of Life. The Game and the Table served as a great reminder.

Sarah, our
8-year-old daughter joined us at the Uno table for the first time. She wasn’t
as quick as the rest of us and had to struggle to keep up, but she did her
best. It was fun to watch her. Some of our older children complained at her
slowness and said she was making it impossible for them to win. She was happy
to be at the table with us.

Carolyn, my Mother-in-law (older than she wants me to disclose but old enough to be Stay's mother)
was at the table too. She had never played Uno before, let alone Ruthless Uno. She
did not know the rules of the Game. It was hard for her to keep up too. The
fast pace of the game challenged her to be quick. It was fun to watch her mind
work as she tried to figure out what was going on. The pace was sometimes more
than she could handle, but her experience kept her in the Game. We never
explained the rules to her. She just played the Game.

My older children (Christina – 18, Jacob – 16, Joseph – 14
and John -12) seemed to know all the tricks. They were confident. They thought
they could navigate the game without any problems. They learned the hard way
that there were still some rules that they did not know about, and that they
sometimes were playing the Game wrong. It was hard for them to admit it, but
they did not know everything. There were lessons to be learned. Some were
harder than others.

Stacy and I (42 and 41) did our best to maintain our
parental advantage. Some of our children are still afraid of hitting us with a
draw card. They were a little timid at first and then realized that it was just
part of the Game. We know the rules well because we have been in the Game
longer than them and we invented the rules we play with our friends the Van Dykes.
There are few surprises for us with the rules, but we have learned that the
Game is always different and we must not expect it to ever be the same as the
previous Game. We also know that one bad hand is just a momentary set back and
that a new one will be dealt soon so we must learn to avoid making the same
mistakes as we play our next hand. As a result we have learned how to minimize
the risk of being caught with high point cards in our hand if the Game ends
suddenly.

On the side lines Rebekah and Leah were anxious to be
involved. At three and two years old they are not quite ready to play the Game.
They did a good job running interference. The noise they generated was a
different kind of noise generated by the Game. It didn’t seem to bother the
older kids – in fact I am not sure they even heard it, but Stacy had to play
the Game at times with a crying child on her lap and I sometimes had one at my
side poking me and asking me for something.

Grandpa (69) was also on the Sidelines. He got in for one hand
while Stacy was doing something for one of the little girls, but for the most
part he sat and watched the Game. I am not sure how he handled the noise. We
were too busy to notice. The Game consumed us. Our personal involvement made it
impossible for us to pay much attention to him and what he was doing. I am sure
he was busy, but I really can’t tell you even where he was. Sometimes I was
aware that he was nearby, but other times he was out of my view and so out of
my mind. I had to focus on the Game so I could not allow myself to focus much
on him.

Life happened last night was we played Ruthless Uno. Each of
us in our different places in the Seasons of Life played our part. We came
together and could not escape the roles. We each had to play the cards we were
dealt. This sometimes worked to our advantage and other times to our
disadvantage. Because it was Ruthless Uno we were all working for our own
individual agenda. Each of us had the goal of winning the Game. There was no
way that we all could win, so we did our best to make the others lose. Since it
was just a Game, we felt comfortable inflicting pain (making someone draw 16
cards – or laughing as they hunted for the color needed to continue on in the
Game) on those we loved the most. We told ourselves it was just part of the
Game. We laughed and argued and laughed some more as each hand ended with a
different winner. In the end we had fun, together at the Ruthless Uno table.
The meaning I am making for the Game is just something I noticed along the way.
It may just be me, but I think it was interesting to relate it to the real Game
of Life. Sometimes life can be ruthless and we may not know all the rules and
it may seem like everybody is ganging up on us so that they can accomplish
their own agenda. All we have to do is just keep pushing the play button and we
will realize that life is good.

You ain’t seen nothin yet!

Andrew Thorn

760-559-3548

athorn@telioscorp.com

Tags: Andrew Thorn, Carpe Articulum, Dreaming, Game of Life, Goal Setting, Leader Behaviors, Life Leadership Harmony, Second Half of Life, The Authentic Me

This entry was posted on Friday, November 28th, 2008 at 7:23 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.