Life is a game

The best analogy for life can be found in our play, in games.
Example One: life really sucks.
I think most of us would agree that it would suck to be a paraplegic. I had the misfortune of spending a couple of hours with a paraplegic who hated his life. I say misfortune because this individual was angry at the world. He was an activist in handicap accessibility pointing out to me the places he couldn’t go in his wheelchair. “If you want to go into that store,” I suggested, “I’m sure all you would have to do is let the shopkeepers know and they would help you.” You already know that was not the point. He had no interest in that store. He just wanted to be able to go there on his own if he did want to. Goodness knows I understand the desire for independence.
A card game like bridge is a good analogy for this situation. When playing bridge, you get dealt 13 cards. They may be lousy cards, a hand you would rather not play, perhaps, but you still play it to the best of your ability.
There are paraplegics who are inspirations like Chris Waddell, a paraplegic who scaled Mt. Kilimanjaro more than 20 years after he was paralyzed in a skiing accident. Waddell says. “What happens to us isn’t that interesting; it’s what we do with it that’s interesting.”
I suspect the paraplegic I met with had not forgiven himself for his misfortune. Driving drunk put him in the wheelchair. I think he would make himself much happier if he forgave himself and accepted his hand. We can never go back. It is always this hand that we have to play, the one this moment.