Tag: life

When Life is Precious/Delicate

It is hard to believe that this year is coming to an end already. I know that I have not posted anything here in a while. Lots of transitions, as well as many ups and downs. New jobs. Family things. You know how life goes. I really thought long and hard about this topic to end the year with. Life is a precious and delicate thing. Sometimes we take it for granted. I am blessed to have parents I am close with and friends who I am very lucky to have. But that could change in a moment. I was just thinking about it recently especially with the timely death of my grandma Nan who passed away at the age of 98 at the end of September. I have been thinking about it as my parents are getting older too and my dad just turning 85 earlier this month (happy birthday month to my lovely dad).

We need to enjoy and remember every moment with those we care about while they are still here. My grandma was a complicated person, but I never doubted her love for me and people who knew her and know me remind of that every singe day. I choose to remember the good memories instead of the bad or tragic ones. She also very much supported my poetry writing and encouraged me on daily basis. A lot of my earlier work was inspired by her. I get my love of poetry from that side of the family. That brings me into my first and my only quote for this post. I am keeping this a short one. This quote is by Jim Valvano who says “Enjoy your life, the precious moments you have.” That quote sums it all up. We need to enjoy life and remember those precious moments. I once again apologize for not posting as much as I usually do, but maybe my new year’s resolution is to write more on this blog and to still get my poetry collection published. I just want to wish you all a happy new year! May this next year bring you everything you are looking for. Here are two poems to end 2025.

Life Hanging By a Thread

Life is precious and delicate

Like an intricately woven web.

Sometimes you need to know

When to hold on and when it is

Time to let go. Life is about loss

And coping. We are all dealing

With heartbreak or with losing

A family member. We all deal with

Grief and love. Sometimes it is

Better to remember the good times

Rather than the memories that have

Us shed a tear or two. We would

Rather remember who we love in

The present moment rather than

The love we lost months or years

Ago. Maybe none of it matters –

The pain, the hurt, the longing,

The anger or anything in between.

Maybe that is why I protect my

Heart more than anything else

Because it is precious and closest

Thing I have to the honest truth.

Love is not meant for the ones

Barely hanging on. It is meant for

The ones who are strong and capable.

To Grandma Nan

I love you 

The words that 

Rattle around in my head.

How I wish I could have been

There for you in your final moments,

But the guilt I used to carry around

Like a suitcase melts away. Maybe

It is better to remember your last

Words spoken to me rather than 

Seeing you in the flesh because 

I would rather remember you as

You were, loving and supportive

And not hanging on for dear life.

I loved you grandma even when you

Were rough around the edges. 

I loved you when you hugged me

Tightly. I loved you even when 

Your memories have faded,

But your love stayed intact.

Game of Chess

I have never been particularly good at playing chess. It definitely requires concentration and strategy, after all it requires to win the game by check mating the king. That leads me to my first quote of this post by Garry Kasparou who says, “Chess helps you concentrate, improve your logic. It teaches you to play by the rules and take responsibility for your actions, how to problem solve in an uncertain environment.” So in other words, chess can help us in so many ways in real life. It teaches you survival and problem solving for example.

I am going to do something interesting here by comparing life to a game of chess. That leads me to another quote, this one by Allan Rufus. He said, “Life is like a game of chess. To win you have to make a move.
Knowing which move to make comes with IN-SIGHT and knowledge, and by learning the lessons that are acculated along the way. We become each and every piece within the game called life!” He sums it up perfectly for why life is like a game of chess.

Like I said before, in order to win the game you have to capture the king and be able to say checkmate which is when the other player is all out of moves. This is another way in which life is like a game of chess. A lot of the time you have to make moves in silence. That leads me to my next quote which is pretty straightforward. “Move in silence, only speak when its time to say checkmate.” So in other words, do not announce your moves to anyone. You do not want anyone, especially your enemies to know any of your moves ahead of time. You just want to keep them guessing.

Some people might think an important piece is a pawn or maybe the king because that is who a chess player wants to protect, but I personally think that one of the important and powerful pieces is the queen. That leads me to these next quotes, the first by Karim R. Ellis who says, “A king may be the most important piece on the chess board however the queen is the most powerful as she performs more moves than any other token. Men take notes.” The other quote is by Tiffany Reisz who says, “The king was the strong piece, of course. The most important chess piece and the most vulnerable to attack. But the queen… the queen was the most powerful chess piece. More powerful than the king. And the queen could move any way she wanted…” Those quotes sum it up perfectly of why the queen is the most important and powerful pieces. She can go in any direction she chooses and is not limited in how many squares she can move in. Horizontal, vertical, or diagonal. It does not matter.

Let’s move onto the king and the whole meaning behind chess. Like I said before… the whole point of chess is to capture the king. This next and final quote sums up what chess is all about. “In chess, the king is the most important piece. The object of the game is to trap the opponent’s king so that its escape is not possible (checkmate). If a player’s king is threatened with capture, it is said to be in check, and the player must remove the threat of capture on the next move. If it cannot be done, the king is said to be in checkmate. Although the king is the most important piece, it is usually the weakest piece in the game until a later phase, the endgame.” So in other words, the king can be an important piece as well as being the weakest piece too. I know there is a lot to absorb and remember here, but the main thing is that although chess is just a game it can teach us a thing or two about the real world. I am including a poem here. It won me runner up for a competition I participated in on DUP. I hope that my readers really enjoy this one. Cheers!!

Game of Chess

Make your moves in silence as one does
In a game of chess. Watch out as pawns
Become castles, knights, bishops, queens
And kings. Do not second guess because
In those moments of weakness the swans
Take advantage. Mirrors or smoke screens

Will advert you from the truth as you keep
Your guard up with your knifes sharpened
And ready. Calculate your moves so your
Enemies do not see you slipping or asleep.
To them you are like a decaying carcass,
But little do they know you won the war

And the game they came to play. My dear,
It is already check and checkmate. They
Should just give up the game as you are
The true queen. They should not only fear
You, but also underestimate. You will stay
Useless in their eyes, but you are the star.