It’s just one long game, with a bunch of other games thrown in the mix, right? Games intertwined into other games, in a myriad of complexity that form our lives – or we allow to form our lives. We do have control, right? We aren’t mindless beings, incapable of making decisions without choice – are we?

As the years roll by some of us spend more time than we should reflecting on the past and where the future will take us. Obviously railbirds don’t, they just stay perched on the rail, waiting for something to come along that will ease their life one hour at a time. And there are railbirds everywhere, even in the parking lot at Walgreens – but they are in disguise as 11 and 12 year old boys, bumming for a $1. Nothing like getting all that training in at an early age.

But railbirds aside, because everyone has to be something, where will 2008 take us? Hopefully it’s a paved road to a long and healthy, well formed life of self revelation and inner strengths rising to the top of the slowly simmering growth of self.

Beating the game, to me, is not about the game of poker, it’s about the game of life and how we handle the whole ball of rubber bands. In watching those around me, that find so much joy in searching for conflict with each other, I try to keep my rubber bands intact. If one should break, the whole ball might start to fall apart.

I brought the New Year in with one little face in my arms. She was smiling at me with the biggest grin you can imagine. That’s the best way to keep all those rubber bands together – look for the smiles in life. Don’t allow someone else’s anger or frustration to erode the elasticity you’ve built in each band. Put your conscious thought into park now and then, and take the time to reflect on the good things in life.

And stay away from Razz games.