The Snake Is Not the End of the Game
Updated: Aug 15
There are some childhood games we remember because they were fun.
And then there are games we remember because, somewhere along the way, they taught us something about life.
Snakes and Ladders was one of them.
As children, we understood the rules quite simply.
Climb the ladder and celebrate.
Land on a snake and groan.
Move forward and feel fortunate.
Slide backwards and feel disappointed.
We did not know it then, but we were already practising something that adulthood would ask of us repeatedly:
How do you respond when life moves you backwards?
We Loved the Ladders
There was something satisfying about landing at the bottom of a ladder.
One move could take us much farther than we expected.
We could be struggling to make progress and suddenly find ourselves several squares ahead.
Life has its ladders too.
Sometimes an opportunity arrives at exactly the right moment.
Someone believes in us.
A door opens.
A relationship encourages us.
A decision changes our direction.
A dream begins to take shape.
A season of hard work finally produces results.
We climb.
And we celebrate.
But life is not only made of ladders.
Then Comes the Snake
The snake is different.
It does not ask whether we are ready.
It simply takes us down.
And perhaps that is why the game resembles life so closely.
A setback rarely arrives according to our schedule.
A business can struggle.
A relationship can change.
A carefully planned opportunity can disappear.
A dream can be delayed.
Something we thought was secure can suddenly become uncertain.
One moment we are looking forward.
The next, we are looking backwards.
And when that happens, we can feel as though everything we have worked for has been taken away.
But Snakes and Ladders contains a lesson we often forget:
Landing on a snake does not end the game.
It changes your position.
That is not the same thing.
A Setback Is a Position, Not an Identity
Sometimes we allow what happened to us to become who we believe we are.
We fail once and begin calling ourselves failures.
We experience rejection and decide we are unwanted.
We lose an opportunity and conclude that we have lost our purpose.
We fall behind and assume we will never catch up.
But perhaps the snake is asking us to separate where we are from who we are.
You can be behind without being defeated.
You can be delayed without being denied.
You can fall without becoming a failure.
You can lose a position without losing your purpose.
The square you occupy today is not necessarily the square where your story ends.
We Don't Quit Because We Met a Snake
Imagine playing Snakes and Ladders as a child and, after landing on a snake, simply walking away from the board.
We would never have considered that the sensible response.
We would complain.
We might blame the dice.
We might accuse another player of having better luck.
But eventually, we would roll again.
Why?
Because we understood something that adulthood sometimes makes us forget:
The game was not over.
Perhaps there is wisdom in that childhood instinct.
When life moves us backwards, we may need to grieve the setback.
We may need to rest.
We may need to reconsider our strategy.
We may even need to change direction.
But we do not necessarily need to quit.
Sometimes the most courageous thing we can say after falling is:
"I will try again."
The Ladder and the Snake Belong to the Same Board
There is another lesson hidden in the game.
The ladder and the snake are not on separate boards.
They belong to the same one.
That matters.
We sometimes wish for a life made entirely of ladders.
We want progress without interruption.
Success without disappointment.
Growth without discomfort.
Victory without setbacks.
But perhaps such a life would teach us very little about resilience.
The ladder teaches us to appreciate progress.
The snake teaches us how to respond when progress disappears.
The ladder can move us forward.
The snake can deepen us.
And sometimes the person who reaches the final square is not the person who encountered the fewest snakes.
It is the person who kept playing.
What Happens After the Snake?
This may be the more important question.
Not:
"Why did this happen to me?"
Not even:
"How far have I fallen?"
But:
"What will I do from here?"
There is a difference between acknowledging a setback and surrendering to it.
We cannot always control the square on which life places us.
But we can often influence what we do from that square.
We can learn.
We can adapt.
We can seek help.
We can begin again.
We can take another step.
We can roll the dice.
And sometimes that next roll becomes the beginning of a completely different chapter.
Perhaps the Snake Has Something to Teach Us
This does not mean that every setback is good.
Some experiences hurt.
Some losses change us.
Some disappointments take time to understand.
We should not romanticise pain or pretend that every difficult season has an obvious purpose.
But we can ask whether something can still be learned from what happened.
Perhaps the snake teaches patience.
Perhaps it teaches humility.
Perhaps it exposes something we were depending on too heavily.
Perhaps it forces us to reconsider a direction that was no longer serving us.
Perhaps it reminds us that progress is not always measured by how quickly we reach the top.
Sometimes progress is simply refusing to stop.
The Umbrella We Carry After the Storm
This is where Snakes and Ladders becomes more than a childhood game.
Life will give us ladders.
Life will give us snakes.
Some days we will climb.
Some days we will slide.
Some seasons will feel like remarkable progress.
Others will feel like we have been returned to a place we thought we had already left behind.
But perhaps one of the umbrellas we carry through life's storms is resilience.
Not the belief that nothing will ever hurt us.
Not the belief that we must always be strong.
But the quiet conviction that a difficult moment does not have the authority to write the final chapter of our lives.
The snake can change your position.
It does not have to determine your destination.
Keep Playing
Perhaps that is what our childhood game was quietly teaching us.
You will not control every roll.
You will not avoid every snake.
You will not climb every ladder.
You will sometimes move forward.
You will sometimes move backwards.
But as long as the game continues, there is another move.
Another opportunity.
Another beginning.
Another roll of the dice.
So if life has recently sent you backwards, perhaps you do not need to have the whole journey figured out today.
Perhaps you simply need to take the next step.
And then the next.
Because the snake is not the end of the game.
It is simply another square on the journey.
Pause for Reflection
Where has life recently moved you backwards?
Have you allowed that setback to define you, or have you allowed it to teach you?
What if your current position is not your destination?
And if you could roll the dice again, what would your next move be?
Umbrellas of the Soul is a journey of finding extraordinary wisdom in ordinary moments.
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