Saturday, January 20, 2007

Life Is A Pinball

Now that I’m sick and I can’t go to Borders, what can I do?



Pinball in the morning. Pinball after breakfast. Pinball after quiet time. Pinball before lunch. Pinball after I write my blog entry for the day. And pinball again just to set the high score.

Some observations and insights about pinball.

Observation 1: Do not bump the machine. You always get higher scores when you focus on your flippers instead. Worst is, if you accidentally bump it when the “Careful” warning comes out, your machine will go into “Tilt!” Your flippers will freeze. The ball will just fall into the hole.

Insight: It is not wise to be too assertive. It is good to shake things up a little every once in a while. But don’t bump it too much. You may just bump yourself into your own doom. Best is, just focus on what you should be doing right. You’ll score more points that way.

Observation 2: Do not be flippant about your flippers. If you need to flip the right flipper, flip the right flipper. If it’s the left flipper, then flip the left flipper. Make a choice. And make it fast. If you flip both flippers at the same time, sometimes the ball may scrape by one flipper, but hit the bottom of the other flipper. And you’ll “backflip” the ball into the hole.

Insight: Life is about decisions. Make fast decisions. Make good decisions. Don’t live in indecision. If you’re too flippant, you will never decide on anything. You’ll let opportunity slip through the hole. There are no two ways about doing things. It’s either one, or the other. If you choose both, one of it will backfire. And the backfiring one may ruin the good decision that you made.

Observation 3: Follow the lighted arrows. The game is not about keeping the ball in the air. It’s about hitting the places that will get you the highest scores. If all you want to do is keep the ball in the air, you may get to play longer. But you won’t get a high score. So, try to hit the lighted arrows. They are lighted for a reason.

Insight: Live a purpose-driven life. Life is not just about staying alive. It’s about doing the right things to make it meaningful. If all you want in life is to stay alive, you may get to live longer. But you won’t get any meaning out of it. What on earth are you here for? Find your lighted arrow. Your Creator left you instructions for a reason.

Final observation: When people are jobless, they start making philosophy out of pinball.

Final insight: When trying to reduce unemployment rate in a country, don’t give them pinball. Just give them a job, for cryin’ out loud…

My high score is 4,539,500.

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