Someone said to me today that life is like the game snakes and ladders – “You never know how the dice will land. It could be a ladder that you have to go up or a snake you have to go down.” There is the association that ladders are good because you get closer to winning the game and snakes are bad because you end up going back towards the point where you started the game.
This got me thinking – is this really what life is like. Is it that simple?
It is true we don’t know what the throw of the dice will thrust upon us. I know this reality only too well. I remember vividly what happened when my world came crashing down around me. Without a doubt I began the slippery slide down the longest snake you could ever imagine. My initial reaction was to succumb to the chaos and uncertainty I found myself in. Fear ruled my existence, quickly followed by anger. I was a mess and I didn’t know how else to react. But – and yes, there is a big but – I soon realised we are gifted with the power of choice, and we can control the way we think about what we are presented with and how we respond to it. In the end it is up to us what happens next.
I remember the moment I realised I had a choice. I made a decision and so began my ascent out of that hole the snake had led me to. This journey tranformed not only my life but also the lives of my children. We are better people because of what we experienced. Our snake was actually a ladder which we climbed together, step by step. Sometimes we had to go back down a few steps, take a breath and then begin to climb up again.
Going down a snake is not all bad. Sometimes it is an opportunity to work out new possibilities and begin again. We can turn our snakes into a positive if we choose.
Manifesto
02. Every day is an opportunity for a new beginning.
24. Every day is a journey. Not a destination.
50. Every day has an ending.
![[Facebook]](http://freshnewday.net/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/facebook.png)
![[Twitter]](http://freshnewday.net/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/twitter.png)
![[Email]](http://freshnewday.net/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/email.png)
2 Comments
Some years ago my friend Ana gifted me a gold dice charm to remind me of a saying we use to share: CHOICE NOT CHANCE. It was meant to be a motivator for our get-fit-lose-weight regime. Worked some days and not others, still a good reminder to get out there and live life YOUR way. Do it and own it
xx
I love that – choice not chance! It is so true. We do hold the power. In our manifesto we say: 06. Every day you make choices; 07. Every day making no choice is a choice.