Have you ever been at a place, where you don’t feel like being productive anymore?

In the midst of a home remodelling project that expanded from a 4-weeker plan into a 6-month long venture, a messed-up sleep schedule, a seven-year-old who needs constant reminders to pay attention during online classes, zero motivation to complete unfinished blog posts, and a soul that just wants to be set free, there have been multiple times when I’ve felt to be on the brink of insanity.

Let’s confess, the pressure can be incredibly exhausting for us women.

And the funny thing is despite being super busy with a truck-load of work, we find ourselves at the end of the day feeling shockingly bored with a burgeoning disinterest in almost everything.

Isn’t it?

Last Friday evening, after putting my kids to bed and powering off my laptop, I found myself in the same zone again – too tired to do anything and too bored with everything. Looking for something mood-boosting while mindlessly scrolling social media on my phone; it occurred to me – how I always turned to Solitaire when nothing seemed to work out and I felt hopelessly irked with things around.

The flashing thought brought alive all those memories of my young teen years spent alone sitting in front of my desktop playing Solitaire or one of its more challenging cousins Free Cell. I remember how I used to spend countless hours together – butts stuck on the chair, eyes glued to the screen, skunked over and over again until I had won.

Solitaire is addictive. One game is never enough.

And so, I would set rules before starting, if I win the next game I would stop playing. But sometimes, the winning would happen so quickly that I had to deal again and wait for the second win. Seldom, would I turn off the light and go to sleep before winning my game once.

It was a perfect game to play especially for those rainy days when I couldn’t go outside to play. It was also a great game for those days when I needed to unwind after a long and hectic day at school. And also, on those days when I felt low and uninspired, I turned to Solitaire. I did this all through my school and college years until boys entered the picture and Solitaire vanished from the scene of my life.

While I always knew there’s a Solitaire app and a Solitaire gaming website with a plethora of Solitaire and other related card games that you can play online, I pretty much ignored it. Until last night, after getting truly fed up with watching cute cat videos, funny dog clips and reading about the latest beauty trends, I logged in to this gaming website – Solitaire.org and started playing.

I thought I would play a game or two for a quick perk-up before sleep time would contend and I would call it a night. But boy, can you imagine? I played. And played. And played. With my eyes drooping and my back beginning to ache, I continued to play like an obstinate child bent upon having her share of fair wins.

Dealing with new games one after the other, I got so consumed in developing a winning game plan that I completely forgot about the peeves and pains of adult life. In my pursuit for that one elusive invariable move that would set and rearrange all my cards suit on the suit, I had a strange epiphany.

I realised that life is like a game of Solitaire.

Just like in Solitaire wherein, not all games can be successfully completed, in real life too not every problem can be fixed and not every challenge can be conquered. And this is not necessarily the fault of the player.

Sometimes we are dealt a random deal that is theoretically unsolvable or in real life, we’re denied a promotion we’ve been so striving for at work. There could be worse instances – we may lose something or someone more serious and intimate like the death of a loved one, divorce, accident or losing our home to a natural calamity.

This is how life rolls at us full-tilt no matter what plans we’re making or how good our game plan or strategy is. But this doesn’t mean that we put the blame on the deal because poor choices can lose a game in which you might have achieved a better result with optimal play. Strategic choices are always rewarded be it a simple game of Solitaire or real life.

It’s always our ability to let go and move on after a loss, accept all the things that life has to offer – the good and the bad and understand that there are consequences to our actions that make us who we are: strong, resilient and resolute.