PEOPLE AT PLAY Most persons tend to self-sort themselves when at play.
Even though the actual, immediate reward may be small, we strive all the harder to win at play, it seems, than when at work.
So many of us refuse to think of leisure time activities as being merely a “game” set apart from the more serious, income producing aspect of living. We take our play quite seriously and with some justification, I think.
The diminutive tone in which the word “game” is so often voiced can be deceptive, too, activating an illusion which suggests the participant thinks of it as an extracurricular activity, an unessential addition which while it is to be enjoyed, is not required activity. short, many “players” do so strictly for enjoyment, pleasure and for esoteric enhancements.
Watch people as they play In so doing, you will learn a thing or two about the real person you thought you knew.
It starts early, too. The small boy or girl who, playing at Hop Scotch, for example, who, knowingly breaks stated, basic rules concerning his jumps to advance his score will, later on, try the same tactics in business deals. Quite often, playing against younger, less experienced competitors, he will seem to be successful by using such actions.
We must realize early life that the games we play,, be they vocational or avocational... work or hobby ...are all set to operate best by firmly set rules and modifying regulations. There are always those who have previous of gamesmanship who monitor what we are doing and try to set us on the right path. A child who ignore such guidance in early life, who is kept from given such authority due respect by jealous or otherwise unreliable parents or, in some cases, appointed administrative guardians such as baby-sitters and pliant grandparents, invites failure. There is, we are told, honor even among thieves and, in a real sense, that is true. Part of the punishment for having chosen the wrong way of life is a constant, unending awareness that you are to suffer for our poor judgments and your choice of desire over need. Courage is often founded in fear – of consequences if one departs for the set rules.
All participants in any game exercise expertise which is all is own. In a baseball game, a batter stands tense with anticipation of what the next pitch coming his way might be. Suddenly there it is! It is moving toward him at just under one hundred miles per hour and it is a few feet away!The batter reacts to rules of game and does what is required to the best of his ability, not to a series of cogitative thoughts about what might be done.
On the mound the pitcher is wondering how well he has followed the game's rules. He will know in a fraction of a second if he had made proper. Sound alone would tell him if he had achieved his mark or merely had another learning experience. He thought over the manner in which he had laced his long finger around the ball; where he had applied pressure; where he had lightened it; the tiny twist of the wrist delivery. “Strike!” Good.
What is your game? If you don't have one ...get one! Learn it well and people will be watching you some day.
A. L.M March 21, 2005 [c571wds]
