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Anyone who knows me, knows that I have backup plans for my backup plans. As a result I am rarely caught off guard.

Where did this skill come from?

Last night I realized that this viewpoint came from chess. When you play many games, and you care if you win or lose (which I do), you tend to create backup plans on the board.

For instance, it’s a good idea to not leave your pieces unprotected. If a bishop is out in the middle of the board and there are no pieces guarding it, it’s open to attack.

Now you might say, “Well, no one is attacking it now. Why worry about it?”

What often happens in a game is an opponent can make use of that potential weakness and attack it while also attacking another piece. It’s difficult to defend two things at once.

So if you try to keep all your pieces connected, making sure they are protecting each other, you have a built in backup plan. It’s like bringing that umbrella when the sky is blue.

Life is like a chess board, full of lots of activity. Each position has a lot happening, different threats and battles. You must get used to looking at it all at the same time, evaluating it as a whole. And then creating safeguards to make sure all areas are not only safe, but flourishing!