My brain latched onto a new obsession this last week:
Chess.
As far as procrastination goes, it beats most of the alternatives. And I’m not bad at it. I mean, I’m not great, but I’m doing well for having only studied it for a few days. Already I beat low-ranking humans half the time and consistently (but not always) beat bots with Elo rankings up to 1300.
I have a ways to go before I’d say I’m good at it.
But that’s okay – losing is great because every failure tells you something. And when you fail often, you begin to see patterns in how you fail.
My biggest flaw in my thinking used to be my lack of precision. Whether in sports, language, writing of Christian conditioning, I was great at creativity and adaptability. Following set patterns, though? Working efficiently? I used to struggle with that.
Now… well, I’m not skilled at that, but I wouldn’t call it a weakness.
I see that in my chess games. I can execute set opens competently but not excellently. My game gets better when I’m free to get creative with it.
But I get flustered easily. That’s something I can still work on. In coaching, working out and now chess, I can get so overwhelmed and distracted by cycles within cycles that I lose sight of the obvious.
I’ve unnecessarily – and to no advantage – lost my queen to an enemy pawn more than once.
When I’m think of cycles within cycles, I know how to ride a particular cycle of thought into feeling grounded. Chess is good practice with this. In time, I might overcome this too.
It means an aggressive, talented and methodical player can dismantle my attacks and wreck me, even with a material disadvantage.
That’s okay – I’m not embarrassed when someone like that beats me.
It’s always a good learning experience.
And it’s great to find a new wholesome fixation. It’s already changing the way I think.
Just as Your Story Isn’t About You will change the way you think.
If it’s to do with people, you’ll see it differently after you read, reread and apply it: