"A nice house. A new car. A big boat.

You can’t take them with you.

A promotion. A new house. The rewards of winning at life’s game can be thrilling. But eventually everything goes back into the box.

Remember the thrill of winning at checkers? You become the Master of the Board—the victor over everyone else. But what happens after that: It all goes back in the box. You don’t get to keep one token, one chip, one game card. In the end, the spoils of the game add up to nothing.

Using popular games as a metaphor for our temporal lives.......we see what’s fleeting and what’s permanent in Life. Being Master of the Board is not the point; being rich toward Life, rich toward God is.

Winning the game of life on Earth is a temporary victory; loving God and other people with all our hearts is an eternal one.

Focus on winning the right trophies."

Adapted from a review on "When The Game Is Over, It All Goes Back In The Box". A good reminder on how we should live our Life. The hundred years or more we have on earth. How precious each day is.

There is no real victory in collecting cars, cards, property etc .. when your personal life is empty and cold, with no real joy to share with family and friends who are real to you, and whom you are real to.

Real in how you treat them. A refreshing openness and honesty and courage to love with abandonment, with no fear of how the reactions may be so long as you have chosen and decided to take the FIRST STEP to reach out to the other person. And welcome him/her into your world.

Just as our dogs and pets so openly and innocently welcomes you into their world. No considerations of how you think of them. No fear of rejection. And even if there is some reservation, given a period of familiarity, once the confidence and trust is established, they come with an abandonment mostly seen in children, which diminishes in many adults.

Come on now and let loose a bit. Dare to forget about yourself for a moment. Cos most of the time, when WE feel bad, down, anxious...it is cos we only have ME, MYSELF & I in our mind. What about ME? Who's going to take care of ME? How am I going get through this?

When we only look at ourselves, everything else fades away and our own issues become magnified.

Turn away from self now. Look to others. Ask: Who can I help today? Seek out someone, some animal to help. And go do that with all your heart.

At the end of the day, when you have a GOOD DAY, you'll find that it is most likely a day when 'me, myself & I" are not quite in the picture.

You are happy cos you have made another happy.

That is the secret of true joy. I believe.