 Before I share the lesson I've recently learned ... I'd like to share what led to my discovery.... Have you ever played Free Cell Solitaire? If not, I highly recommend doing so. It will give your brain such a wonderful workout... in a positve and good way. I'll explain how in a little bit... but first, another question for you. Have you ever seen the old movie "War Games"...?... I hope that's the right title.... about a teenager that accidentally hacks into the computerized defense system of the U. S. Military... and sets off what seems to be a possible nuclear world catastrophe.... only to find out... the computer was in 'game' mode. It's only playing a 'computerized war strategy game'.. but will in reality.. set off real nuclear weapons in an attempt to win the 'game' it is playing with its human player that started the game process. It is discovered that the one thing the computer had not learned yet was that sometimes, as with the game Tic Tac Toe... there is no winner, no way to win.. therefore no reason to play or finish the game. They set the military computer to play the Tic Tac Toe game against itself so that eh computer would see that indeed at times there cannot be a winner...and therefore no reason to play. Much like with the results of nuclear war. While the computer is frantically playing every possible conceivable move in Tic Tac Toe to get that information recorded into its memory system... the humans are desperate for it learn, so that it will not launch the nuclear missiles of the 'war game' it is in the progress of 'playing'... and they exclaim... "Learn d*** it!.. Learn!!!" I've been playing Free Cell Solitaire over and over the last couple of weeks and I feel like possibly God has been standing by, exclaiming.... "Learn!... Learn!!!"... (without the expletives of course... although I feel certain I must drive Him to the very edge of wanting to say a few! ) What does playing Free Cell teach you?..... Before I answer that... one more question: Have you ever said or did something and wished afterwards you had not spoken or acted so hastily? It is easy to do isn't it. We get caught up either with our desires when we go shopping and spend more than we should have. We get caught up in the excitement of the moment and make choices to do something we may later wish we had not done. We get caught up in our anger and say and or do things we most certainly regret when we've cooled down later. We all too easily act and speak in haste... not taking time to think things through to possible consequences. We want that person to know NOW how we are feeling.... and don't want to wait a couple of days to analyze things and make sure we discuss things in a rational, mature way. We want that item that is on sale NOW.... and don't want to think about what it will cost us in the long run. These scenes play over in our lives... over and over... much like the Tic Tac Toe game runs on the computer in the movie... and God is standing by wondering... "How many times is it going to take for you to learn that is NOT what you are supposed to do!!???" Now to connet all this to the Free Cell Solitaire game.... bet you thought I'd never get here...lol. I won't describe all the detail moves of the actual game.... just the main components of the need to think through what plays you will choose to make, and when to make them. On the surface... it will look like it's best to play every card at a glance that you see can be played. Not always true. Just because a card 'can' be played... in this game it may not be the right play to make if you want to win. You have to look hard... think through your choices BEFORE you make hasty plays in this game... or you could lose. You have to look at the various piles of cards.... search out where certain cards are in each pile. For example, if you have a red 8... and the black 9's are buried up high in the columns where you can't get to them very easily... you have to think through your moves: ... which cards to move to which pile?.. to be able to get to that black 9... and you have to be careful what you put on top of that red 8... because without a black 9 to play it on... you could be blocking yourself from getting to cards under the 8... because there is no place to move the 8 until you can get to the 9 you need to play it on!.... Yes! I agree... very confusing!!.. and wears you out just thinking about it! Wore me out writing it...lol. The lesson is.... Playing Free Cell Solitaire will help train your brain, and help you learn to discipline yourself... to stop, look, think, analyze... BEFORE you make a hasty decision about where to put what card or column of cards. A very good life lesson that we need to apply to everything isn't it. I've been stewing over some things around here at home the last month that I've been uncomfortable with, unhappy about, confused about... and in my worst moments, boy did I often want to make some quick, hasty decisions based on what I was feeling at that moment. Thankfully I never said anything. Just kept watching, listening... looking inside myself to how certain things being done or said by others were making me feel... asking myself why I was feeling those things... and then asking myself what did I need to make things better and to not feel the discomfort etc that I had been feeling. As I waited...as I prayed... as I let each feeling come fully 'out' of myself to look closely at and see more clearly.. (and not just react to the current emotion).... layer upon layer of "truth" was revealed to me about myself as I dug deeper to the "core" issue underneath all the little things I was reacting to on the surface. If I had stopped the learning process too soon, and made a choice based on the limited information I had at that time days ago.... I would have possibly made a big mistake by making the wrong choice, saying the wrong thing,... choosing action based on an incomplete conclusion I had come to. Playing Free Cell Solitaire daily for the last couple of weeks was doing to me much the same thing playing Tic Tac Toe was doing to the war computer in the movie... it was programming my brain with new information... so I could then make a much wiser choice with the new knowledge I had gleened, and that information was: "You better take time to think before you make that move... you just might not want to do that... it might not get you what you think it will." The "clear the air" type talk I had with my husband this moring was soooo much better and the results so much better than they would have been if I'd acted before now on past hasty reactions to things. All is well. Peace and harmony understaning and agreement fill the air again. The clouds have parted and I can freely smile inside and out. Life lessons can be learned where you least expect them to present themselves. Are you paying attention? Are you open to the process that is being played out in your life right now... that may in reality be an attempt to make you see something you have not been seeing about yourself or your life? Is there something going on in your life that causes you to ask... "Why does this keep happening over and over????" If so.... take another look at it from the standpoint of... "What is it I'm supposed to be learning here that I'm not getting?" Answers will always come.... it pays however to ask the right question. Life lessons are totally unlike the lessons and tests we took in school... thank goodness! Back then, when we had to take a test the answers were hidden from us and we had to struggle and study to learn what we didn't know... to hopefully be able to give the right answer and pass. "Life" however has the answers out there free for the getting... In fact God's heart desire is for us to get all the answers. He does not want anyone to fail anything. He's just waiting for us to ask the questions.... He's just waiting for us to want to learn, to want to know.... to want to be wiser, smarter, .... and also maybe waiting for us to get tired of making the same mistakes and bad moves over and over and to want to learn how to stop doing it and how to make the right ones. And as soon as we do... He will most gladly, and sometimes almost instantly, provide the knowledge or information we need to be able to see more clearly the better choice to make. And like with me, that information you are needing may just be in the game you're playing for relaxation on the computer.... you never know till you seek. Life lessons are everywhere... free for the taking and there is no failing. Be open to learning.  If you've also had an interesting life learning experience... I'd love for you to join me and share it on here. Your answers and gained insight and knowledge may be just what someone else is needing to hear or learn. Thank you for coming by to read. Hugs, Grace | 
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