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​​​​​​Welcome back to One Marine’s Perspective on how to play the game of life.

The game of life is similar to other games with which we are familiar, in that it is not won merely on the strength of the hands we are dealt, but on how well we play those hands! 

In this discussion, we'll take a closer look at how to play the game of life from One Marine’s perspective by exploring the following areas: Why Game?, God’s Rules, and PHPSSM.

Why Game?

One definition of game is “design of action”, played with gumption and strength of character, angled toward a specific purpose. (Gumption: shrewd or spirited initiative and resourcefulness.) 

There’s more: Game – a form of activity, especially a competitive one, played according to rules and decided by skill, strength, or luck. And we all know that luck is just the result one obtains when preparation meets opportunity. Think about it. Don’t the luckiest people generally seem to be  those who are prepared when life’s opportunities present themselves? 

That being said, what is One Marine’s perspective on the game of life? Life is a game that we all must play, there are no substitutions. We are all on the same team. We play by God’s rules. And it is only through unselfish teamwork that we can hope to "win". Winning would imply that all of life’s players would succeed in fulfilling their purposes, meeting life’s challenges together with a spirit of peace, harmony, joy, and love. 

Life is neither good nor bad, true nor false, fair or unfair. Life is just the gift given to us. The rest comes from what we do with our gift. Consider this quote found in One Marine’s HS Gym: “For when the last great scorer comes to score against your name – It matters not that you won or lost but how you played the game.” 

Listen to Story 1.

He took the hand he was dealt and played the game of life according to God's rules. I’m quite sure that none of us can find fault with the way he played his position on our team. 

                                              God’s Rules
 

So, how do we play the game according to God’s rules? It appears that Glenn Cunningham certainly did. 

The wheel of life – we hear a lot In self-help circles about our wheel of life and how we should balance it in order to have a smoother journey on the road of life. The challenge is for each of us to decide which areas are of most importance in his or her life.

For One Marine there really is an underlying and overriding purpose for his life, and that purpose is to be the best Marine that he can be. And the specific purpose for the One Marine's Perspective web site is to lead interested visitors on a journey culminating in an understanding of the importance of leading with character as we play the game of life by God’s rules.

The word "leading" in the foregoing statement could easily be replaced by the word "living" as, in One Marine’s perspective, if we’re living, we’re leading. Whether with intention or not, we are presenting an example which others may emulate. More about One Marine’s perspective on leadership in a later discussion. 

Although we often stress freedom as the most important aspect of our lives in America, we cannot have freedom without responsibility; the two are interwoven. What we do impacts all of our teammates in this game of life. For what are we responsible? We are responsible for our thoughts and actions in all areas of our lives, One Marine suggests that we focus on and balance the following areas (spokes on the wheel of life): 

     * fulfilling our Purpose.

     * gaining and maintaining our Health.

     * continuing our Personal Growth.

     * providing Service to others.

     * attending to the Stewardship of our planet.

     * developing our Morality.

If we all take responsibility to improve our own behavior, we can be catalysts for the type of change that is required to achieve sustainability for our race and our planet. 

                                                  PHPSSM

Purpose – What positions will we be playing in the game? When we identify our individual gifts/talents and couple them with that which makes us fulfilled, we are well on our way to identifying our individual purposes, the positions for which we strive in life. We need to take responsibility and exhibit initiative in deciding what our life is about and arranging it around what we consider the most important things. It is our individual responsibility to take control of our lives and shape who we want to be. We are created for a reason, unique to each of us. Let’s find out what that reason is.

For One Marine this quote by Zack Wamp pretty well sums up his "raison d’etre" (reason for being). “With freedom comes responsibility, and I can think of no responsibility greater than  putting on a U.S. military uniform and standing in the gap between an enemy threat and civilian life.”

Health – How do we make and keep ourselves fit for the game? Just as with every other game, the healthy individual is better able to play his position and help his teammates win the game. Remember, the game of life will be won when all of God’s creatures are living together in harmony, respect, joy, peace, and love on a self-sustaining planet. This means that we should do all we can to keep our spirits, minds, and bodies strong and fit. In order to do that, we must carefully monitor what we allow to enter our minds and bodies. Remember that old computer acronym, GIGO: Garbage in, garbage out – Good in, good out.

Others may recommend (eg. doctors), but the responsibility is ours. It has been One Marine’s experience that western medicine seems to be “spring-loaded” to the medication position. Some sort of medication is generally recommended, regardless of the health challenge. The medication has side effects which require other medication and soon the patient is taking several drugs which mask the symptoms but do little to address the cause of the ailment, which is generally lifestyle choices. One Marine, at age 83, takes no medications. 

Personal Growth – How do we continue to improve our game skills? The more we learn about the world in which we live, the more complicated our lives appear to become, and the more demanding becomes filling our positions in  the game of life. This requires that we continue to grow personally as long as we are involved in the game. We all have room for improvement. Although we may not be totally responsible for the programming we picked up in our childhood, as adults we are one hundred percent responsible for fixing it, if need be. As that well known author "Anon" once said. "I must do something always meets more challenges than something must be done."

Personal growth starts with our thoughts:

          Sow a thought, reap an act.
          Sow an act, reap a habit.
          Sow a habit, reap a character trait.
          Sow a character trait, fulfill a purpose.

Service – How can we help our teammates improve their game? If our goal is to, with the help of our teammates, win the game of life, (and it is), then it behooves us to assist those teammates in becoming the best players they can be. That pretty much dictates a life dedicated to the service of others. Since there are many others in the world who are quite different than we (and that is a good thing), it suggests that we have the responsibility to bypass excuses based on such variables as race, religion, education, or economic standing.

In reality, we have the responsibility to consider the welfare of all citizens of the world, even if it requires personal sacrifice on our parts. We should look toward making a positive difference in the lives of all of God’s creatures.

Stewardship – How do we best care for our playing area? As players in the game of life, we are striving to be the best we can be and maximizing our chances of enjoying a collective win in that all-inclusive game (which will be won only when all of God’s creatures are living together in harmony, respect, joy, peace, and love on a self-sustaining planet). Our playing field is of great importance, not only to us, but to those who replace us in  the game when we “retire”, and that means our progeny. We have the responsibility to leave the earth, to those who follow us, in no worse condition than that in which we found it, and, if at all possible, to leave it in better condition than that in which we found it.

The condition of our playing field (the world) affects all areas of our lives. Our personal readiness is ultimately tied to the food we eat, the water we drink, and the places where we play our positions in the game of life. That is why we must focus our attention on, and accept responsibility for, conservation of all resources we use in the game.

Morality - Strange as it may seem, what is moral is a concept that has almost universal agreement among all the players in this game of life, despite such variables as race and religion. We may have different perceptions about how God is manifested and what rituals we should perform in order to honor God, but, ignoring fanatical offshoots of the world’s religions, all major paths seem to embrace some semblance of the Christian Golden Rule and Ten Commandments. Even many of those whom we call pagans seem to be in accord with Christians regarding right and wrong.  So, the people of the world tend to agree that there are "some things" which are good to do and there are "some things" which one should not do for moral reasons.

Remember the sow/reap ditty offered earlier; If we want to do good things, we start by feeding our minds good information and thinking good thoughts. That leads us to good actions, habits, character traits, and our ultimate purpose.

There we have it: PHPSSM. We are responsible for determining and fulfilling our Purpose, gaining and maintaining our Health, continuing our Personal Growth, providing Service to others, maintaining the Stewardship of our planet, and living with Morality.

Listen to Story 2.

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The message is pretty clear: We should all pay close attention to which of our two wolves we feed! Let’s take a look at how another “ordinary” person played the game of life:  

Listen to Story 3.

So, when the last great scorer comes to score against our names, is that last great scorer going to be pleased with how we played our positions in the game of life? - Purpose, Health, Personal Growth, Service, Stewardship, Morality. 

We'll close this discussion with a few quotes that should help further clarify One Marine's perspective on how to play the Game of Life:

“When you feel that others are lacking and failing .... first assess the skill, style, quality, results, mindset, support, professionalism and spirit with which you yourself play the game.”  Rasheed Ogunlaru 

“Your life is not a simulation; it's the real game. Play wisely.” Richelle E. Goodrich 

“If you behave like an individual of integrity, courage, resolution, persistence and character, you will soon create within yourself such a person.” Brian Tracy 

“Once the game is over, the King and the pawn go back in the same box.” Italian Proverb

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The Game of Life