My Life According to FreeCell

Like checking your Horoscope every morning before your day begins, I play FreeCell to shake loose the dreamy cobwebs and help a cuppa steaming coffee stimulate my sleepy brain.

I’ve played it for years—back in the early 2000s I waited impatiently in a Phoenix Discount Tire Center for my Jeep’s new shoes to be installed. Looking up from the two-year-old magazine in hand, I spotted the counterman at the computer—you know how the monitors half-face front so customers can see the screen?

He was playing FreeCell. Solitaire is in my card-playing blood and I’d not heard of this game?! I eagerly attacked the counter and “John” showed me a few moves. When he was called to the service area, he graciously allowed me to play his game.

I was hooked—I rushed home, flying smoothly on my Jeep’s new wheels (yes, I splurged for custom rims, too—that was back when I actually had a budget) and installed FreeCell on my PC.

That was ten years or so ago and when I, PC, Sunny the cat, and the Jeepster, returned to my beloved San Diego, FreeCell moved with us.

It wasn’t until this past year however, that I realized how much the same strategic skills utilized in FreeCell mirror our moves in life. How you ask? Let me count the ways …

Unlocking success and predicting the day …

If I lose more than two games in a row, I know my thoughts are not focused and I either need to break out the day with att-i-tude, or follow my routines today, without making major decisions.

FreeCell (a packaged Microsoft solitaire game) holds the keys to a successful life. Seriously? Absolutely. I often use the game to relax … but it also promotes just the opposite—active meditation and forward-thinking tactical insights―all while I enjoy a seemingly “mindless” game.

I’m talking about the original Microsoft version, not the “cheater” one packaged with Vista in which you can “undo” to your heart’s content. If only life were really like that …

However, the strategies on which FreeCell is built offer clues to resolving problems on your way to personal and professional success.

After I-don’t-know-how-many years, I finally learned that at times, in order to win a game, you must actually stack more cards on top of the very card you need to set free, to win.

What a great lesson! To accomplish your goals or circumvent an obstacle, some life situations require that you take a more circuitous route than planned. But when you finally arrive at your goal, perhaps you have learned more valuable lessons along the way, than had you beat a beeline to success without the detour.

Learning patience when timing is everything …

In FreeCell, if you move some cards too quickly and don’t allow yourself to analyze the consequences, you often paint yourself into the proverbial corner. Sound familiar?

Patience is a valuable life-asset to possess and I truly envy those who do—but I lose more FreeCell games for lack of it.

I have played FreeCell in timed and un-timed games. If you want to improve your strategy skills, play the un-timed version first, so you learn the value of patience and the intricacies of tactics.

If you need to hone your lightning-fast decision-making skills, tackle the timed version, later. It has its benefits, but they are not effective unless you win …

Which brings me back to strategies … while I’m intuitive with the “big picture” scope of things and can be detail oriented when it suits me, too often my eyes glaze over on the little steps it takes to accomplish that grand ending successfully.

As mentioned, FreeCell is a great reminder that making a move—large or small—without looking ahead and contemplating its effects, will most certainly result in a desk-pounding loss.

Trusting instinctive moves in life, as in FreeCell …

Decisions made seemingly without forethought can be deceiving—although patience and foresight are valuable, some instinctive movements need no conscious consideration. A split-second decision can be just right.

Do you know yourself? I mean, really? Your body—not just your mind—tells you when a situation or decision is right for you. If it causes you to be tense, it’s likely not the right decision, whether made quickly or given ample thought. Trust your instincts.

Turn the coin over though, and if you’re like me, there are times that over-analyzing for several minutes (or days, in the life-game) results in frustration and ultimately, I make the wrong move. Too much thought can confuse your muse … I’m learning.

And NOW I know what the attraction is for Chess! It’s known for its tactics and strategies that have often been utilized in business and the military.

I’ve never understood or even wanted to play that venerable game. It moves too slowly and involves way too much thinking. Yet I am an avid FreeCell player. The most significant difference for me? Solitude.

FreeCell is a solitary game. I know, “Duh.” But unlike Chess, which has a partner—think mind-games―as I play FreeCell, I’m not distracted or overly competitive. While contemplating moves, my “back-of-the-mind” thoughts often tap into the FreeCell plays, realizing a strategy that can help solve a personal or professional issue at hand.

What have I learned about myself from FreeCell that can be applied to everything in my life? Up to this point, I have been an inconsistent achiever. I may win the game, but not the way I should … sometimes my ideas and executions are superb. Borderline genius! (Or so it seems to me.) I can see though that my strategy to win is more convoluted and meandering than focused and tactical. Result? I’m victorious in a skirmish, but lack staying power to win the battle.

Jerky movements and thoughtless decisions prohibit sustained success.

I am learning to be consistent in my pursuit of a goal; to apply FreeCell’s possibilities for success that come from forward-thinking, planning, and consistent, strategic action.

And perseverance … try, try, try again. So a few games are lost—take a break, rethink your strategies, and win the next one.

Today, a business buzzword is “sustainability.” I’d like to add another word to that and create a mantra that can apply to personal or professional endeavors―there must be “accountability” to attain “sustainability.” In FreeCell there is no one to blame for losing except you.

Too often, we lay responsibility on everyone else for our misfortunes. Granted, there are some events in which the actions of others cause negative impacts to us. However, it is ultimately our decision as to how we cope with it. Only through accountability and compassion can we lead and succeed.

Although the cards are all there, I sometimes can’t see the ones I need …

And isn’t that often true of life? What’s eerie about FreeCell is that I frequently encounter situations during play that mirror whatever issue I’m personally wrestling with—and if I’m attentive, it offers a strategy for solution. I sit back, find something else to capture my attention for a while, and come back with a fresh eye to the stack of cards—aha! I found the one I needed.

So have I “won” the game of life? If you consider money as the goal, no. But FreeCell … and Life … is more about playing the game than a superficial (monetary) gain.

FreeCell helps us to understand that although your life impacts others’—in the end, if you have not made your decisions with integrity and forethought, or you continuously ignored the importance of strategies that create an interesting, creative, fun, and personally triumphant existence, the one who truly loses … is you.

Life IS a game … the ultimate challenge. So practice your life-skills … go play FreeCell.

Good luck!