Life is a Game of Snakes and Ladders

Sometimes the most profound lessons of life come in the most innocuous of circumstances.

On the weekend, I refereed what became quite a competitive game of snakes and ladders between my two daughters.

It started out with a bit of a battle over who got to be the blue playing piece (blue apparently represents Queen Elsa, of Frozen fame).

Once we resolved that bigger-than-expected hurdle, the game started.

My eldest daughter, Fatima is super-duper-competitive. She wants to win at all costs. She wears her heart on her sleeve. No poker face.

My middle one, Asiya is pretty chill. She just played the game and got on with it.

It was interesting to see this contrast of emotions, this battle of young wits, the clash of personalities. Fire meets ice.

As the game wore on, Fatima was getting incredibly emotionally invested in each roll of the dice, sighing frustratingly if she rolled a one and cheering if she got a six. She played her heart out and would visibly delight in going up a ladder and would crumble and cry each time she went down a snake.

Asiya just rolled the dice and moved forward whatever the score, nonplussed. Enjoying just playing the game.

Snakes and ladders is a game of chance. There’s no real skill involved.