Pawns

Today I began teaching Nolan how to play chess. He seemed to really be into it. We went over the names of the pieces and how they move. Then, as we set up the board, I told him the object of the game.

“Your King is your most important piece. You want to protect yours and take mine from me”

Nolan then looks down at his king, puts his fist around it, rams it through his front row and shouts…

“GET OUT OF THE WAY PAWNS!!!!”

After a solid 30 minutes of teaching the game and making sure he was getting the basic idea of how his pieces move this was how it all ended. The moment Nolan understood the challenge in front of him he charged after it. Chess strategy aside, I think there is something meaningful in his instinctual response to grab “the most valuable piece on the board” (or what he mistakingly understood as, “best”) and use it as a weapon to win the battle.

He wasn’t going to hold back. He decided to be proactive and launch an attack.

Too often we grow into an adulthood of hesitation and self-preservation. We disguise our uncertainty in intentionality, believing that wisdom is found in calculated steps. Perhaps it most often is, but adventure rarely is. Sometimes you just have to take a chance, charge ahead through your created lines of protection, screaming at the top of your lungs…

“Get out of my way!!”