I’m walking in Bustan Park one morning and see people playing chess and backgammon. It reminded me of my high school days when I used to have a pocket chess set. My friend Alireza and I would carry it everywhere. We were playing in the parks, on the bus, and sometimes even in class.
Watching them play, I couldn’t help but begin a comparison of backgammon with chess. Chess is all strategy. You make a mistake, your strategy’s wrong, you’re dead. Backgammon’s different. It is 30% or 40% skills and strategy; the rest depends on the roll of dice and your luck. Something beyond our control.
It reminded me of life. Much in the way backgammon does, life lets us free to an extent with respect to our decisions and practicing strategies. But beyond that, there are many things that we can’t control. A gentle reminder, there are events beyond our control, and we should make the best of what we can manage.