The Game

Yesterday I was having breakfast with my friend Stacy, and we delved into the deep end of conversation as we girls do. We were talking about being on the receiving end of charity, and what an awkward and difficult place that is to be. She has been there too, and we both agreed, it feels so much better to be the one giving. Oh how I pine for my chance to be the “Secret Millionaire”.  And yet, as I mentioned in my previous post, receiving is a blow to the ego but a gift to our souls. When I’m in my ego, I don’t need anyone’s help. Oh no…I am superwoman! I’m someone who ran nonprofits for ten years, helping others to get on their feet. But my soul is now allowing other people to be there for me, to support me, to love me. I am open and vulnerable. (Yikes!)

Then Stacy said something that really got me thinking.

“Thank God those people (who I adopted Stitch from) were so fucked up that they put you in this position, and now you get to have this amazing experience.”

Wow.

That ties in to a theory I have, which I shared with Stacy.  What if this whole thing called life is just The Game? Did you ever see that movie with Michael Douglas and Sean Penn?  If you haven’t - I HIGHLY recommend it. Here’s a synopsis: Michael Douglas is a money-grubbing heartless jerk of a guy, and his brother Sean Penn decides to help him “evolve”. Without Michael knowing it, Sean signs him up for this life- boot camp called The Game.

Soon Michael Douglas’ life is turned upside down by one trauma after the next. People are ransacking his house, he loses all his money, someone is trying to kill him…you name it. But it’s all a farce, being set up by this huge corporation called “The Game”, in an attempt to change him into a better man.

I was absolutely blown away by this film, and at the end I pondered…what if that’s all life is? What if these trials we go through are a game designed to push us toward our higher nature?

Imagine this: at the end as we arrive in afterlife, we see all the people who mentored us, guided us, and better yet, all the people who tortured us.

One by one they take their masks off and shake our hands.

“Hi. Remember me? I was your college professor who told you you’d never make it. Glad to see you did!”

“Nice to meet you. I was the boss who sexually harassed you so that you’d become a champion of women’s rights…”

And there are your parents, smiling, “We neglected you so that you’d grow up to be strong and independent! Gosh we’re proud of the job we did not raising you!”

Just imagine….

So back to Stacy’s comment, what a blessing it is that these “jerks” who abandoned and mistreated my dog have challenged me to see how much fight I’ve got, how I will stand up to injustice, and how much I can abandon my ego to let others support me.

I guess one day, in the hereafter, I’ll have to thank them.

But for now, the fight continues….

Can you think of people who’ve forced you into a “Game” you didn’t want to play, and did it make you a better person? I’d love to hear from you.