Playing Checkers: the Give Away Way

How to play Give Away

Give away was harder, at first. When I was a child, we loved to play checkers. This is probably because we inherited the gene from our father. Our older siblings liked the game and, even though Papa was no longer living, the traditional game continued.

We also learned to play give away. To play this game, the winner is the one who “gives away” or “loses” all his checker pieces first. The other person must jump your checker if he is in a position to do so. Therefore, a player moves his pieces right in front of the opponent so he must jump his checker. 

The winner is the one who loses all his checkers, because he makes a deliberate choice in the way he moves his pieces. He has no checkers remaining. 

How to play give away in life

I like to practice playing this game when I’m around other folks. I do it in the Food Lion parking lot. When I turn down an aisle, another car moves into “my spot”. You know what I do? I whisper, “Give away,” and that parking space goes to someone else.

I practice this at the right-on-red stoplight. The road is clear when another car rounds the bend. I could step on it and move ahead of that car, but I whisper, “Give away,” and wait so I can give away that lane to the oncoming traffic.

I practice this when I’m in a debate with someone who is determined to win, even if he’s wrong. I whisper, “Give away,” and stop defending or arguing with the person. I give up my chance to be right and let him think he’s right (even when he’s wrong).

Patience wins the game

I’ve discovered when I find it hardest to release “my spot” to someone else, it’s because I’m impatient. Sometimes I’m tired or in a hurry. Other times I’ve had “one too many” folks move ahead of me, and I’m frustrated. I want what I want, and I want it when I want it – now. 

Impatience is not a virtue of which to be proud. Imagine what it would be like to go to town and have everyone give away his right to go first, to take the best parking spot, to yield the right of way to someone else. Imagine what it would be like if we spent our lives resisting the urge to grab for ourselves, and, instead, live lives of truly giving away.