I was recently involved in playing an online game with members of my extended family. There were three generations of people involved in playing the game. We were each on our smartphones. I cannot tell you the name of the game. I was the oldest of those playing the game. Having only a basic understanding of the rules of the game, I did my best to follow the rules as I was learning them. The most enjoyable thing for me in this whole experience was getting to spend some time interacting with people who are important to me. I will more than likely participate in this game again, but I seriously doubt I will ever accomplish more than possibly learning a few more of the rules.

When I was younger, I learned the fundamentals of the game of chess. I have played several games of chess. I even joined the chess club in junior high. Can’t recall ever winning a game of chess. I read a number of books on chess. I have opened several nice chess sets in my life. The thing that kept me from really getting good at chess is the simple fact that I am not good at forming and carrying out a strategy. I have watched enough people play chess to know that good players start each game with a definite strategy. Depending on how the game goes, they follow that strategy or choose another one to match and eventually seek to counter and overcome the moves made by their opponent.

My limited experiences playing chess made me aware for the first time that I am not good at strategies, and I do not enjoy them. I love learning, and I am interested in many things. I am just less interested in things that involve developing and carrying out strategies. This is probably why I enjoy word games and not games based on having strategies to reach your objective and gain victory over an opponent. When I was in college, many of the students enjoyed playing the military strategy game Risk. In our dorm, Risk games would often go on all weekend. I never felt a desire to play.

In my personal and professional life I am often faced with the need for strategies I am blessed to have people in my life who are good at developing strategies and carrying them out. I bring the ability to see the big picture to these situations, I sometimes forget that this ability is valuable as well. This goes to show we are dependent in our relationships. When we face a crisis, we need the ability to both see the big picture and to develop the strategies to get us through challenging situations.

As we move forward, it might be worthwhile to reflect on whether we are someone who can see and articulate a big picture view or whether we excel at developing and carrying out strategies. Chances are we are better at one than we are at the other and that we like one more than the other.

As we move forward, especially in a crisis, we should concentrate on the things we are better at and develop relationships with people who bring other strengths to the table. This is much more satisfying than trying to survive a crisis alone, especially when that calls for things that are not our particular strengths.