“I’m tired of the games!” It’s a sentiment everyone screams. Sport is exhausting, especially when the heart is involved. Nevertheless games are good, and so is exhaustion, because like any other muscle the heart requires struggle to strengthen. Physical games are one thing, but the heart demands the philosophical sort as well. Philosophically games are the means to understanding the effects of love without having to understand love itself. The player is afforded information from his interactions on the field, and off-the-field he can excel by studying them. Thus imagine what follows as a series of love games analyzed for the benefit of players everywhere.
Checkmate
Chess is an excellent example of the problem of choice. Before any decision is made the possibilities appear endless, but the moment a piece is pushed forward the possibilities seemingly narrow. The fearful player begins to sweat, whilst the confident one conquers. This same dynamic can be seen in courtship. The man who believes he’s made the wrong choice relinquishes it if he fails to take responsibility. If he believes he’s chosen the wrong mate and does nothing about it he loses the game of love one piece at a time… and quickly.
A man does not have to believe all his decisions are divine, but when a risk is taken it must be owned. There is no reward, no successful relationship, no happy wife and life without a confidence in the choices made to make them.
The slump
Baseball’s terminology provides another analogous opportunity, that of the “Slump.” Not the sort of slump that equates to an increased bandwidth and calloused palms, but rather a series of psychological losses.
Sometimes a man loses, not once but often. Losses are tough as they bring with them pain, despair, and in the game of love, death. Thus losses are the hardest lessons to consider advantageous, and yet to consider them anything else is to invite further failure.
Learn! Discover where the issues stem from, and what personally can be done to prevent them. It’s easy advice to give, and only the most studious acolyte will heed such. Yet watch him do so, and watch him win, again and again.
Play the odds
Poker is a game of chance; in its essence the game of love is no different. A man plays with what he has (his attributes, emotions, interests, etc.), and what he is given (i.e. the same things existent in his partner). The start is shared, but the success is not. So before the cards fall take note of the following.
Be aware: at the onset the table contains nothing but what is brought to it.
Adapt: Cards cannot be changed, but the opposition can be.
Take advantage: of every favorable opportunity that arises.
In other words a man must know himself, respect his lover, endure the bad and do all he can to enjoy the good. After all the chips will fall where they may, so respect the game of love for all it has to offer. Otherwise get up from the table while the getting is good, because there is no doubt that this game isn’t for every man.
