David Yerle likes to play solitaires. They are a mindless game that keeps him entertained for a couple of minutes while he waits for his wife to come out of the bathroom or while he waits for the train.
Solitaire is a card game you can download for iPad or Android and which you can also play in Windows. David Yerle is pretty sure most people have enjoyed it at least once. The objective is to arrange all the cards in ascending order, coming from a random arrangement.
Lately David Yerle has been musing about the resemblance between life and this seemingly pointless game. The first similarity is, of course, that they are both pointless but pretty entertaining. Just because the solitaire is pointless it doesn’t mean you wouldn’t want to play it. The same goes for life.
In the solitaire you can win or you can lose. Winning involves a bit of strategy and a great deal of luck. Some games can be won, while others are impossible from the start. Nothing you can do will get you to win the game. The same goes for life: sometimes your game is rigged from the get-go and your odds will not improve no matter what you do.
Some games are possible to win, but it is still possible to screw them up. While there is a certain amount of strategy, at the end your success will depend on a number of random decisions along the way. Decisions you have no rational way of making, but which have to be made nonetheless. Decisions with unpredictable outcomes which will affect the rest of your game. Just like life, you can improve your chances by using your head but, unfortunately, your future will will remain chancy. On the other hand, that’s what makes the game – and life – exciting.
David Yerle likes the start of the game the best. All your options are open and it’s easy to make noticeable advancements in very little time. Nothing has been settled yet, so the future is open and full of possibilities.
Just like life, the game comes to an end. And, just like life, it leaves you wanting to play again.
David Yerle Wrote. 