I played the word game, Scrabble, with my husband last week. It had been years since we played, just the two of us, mano a mano. We both love word games and are competitive. We each have taken so long on a turn, hoping to eek out a few extra points with a better word, that our running joke is asking whether there’s time to vacuum the house while waiting. My brother once did this while waiting for his turn.

What I notice about Scrabble is that it relies on imagination, flexibility, and playing in the moment. I may have a 40-point word laid out in my hand, only to find my opponent has already taken the spot that I was eyeing. I re-shuffle my letters, hoping for an insight that matches a word to a spot on the board. It is all about my mind staying loose and seeing opportunity. Hey, that sounds like being self-employed…

Sometimes, life serves up 7 vowels, or a Q without a U. No matter. What’s important is getting the most points out of what’s in your hand. I know that once I use those hard to match letters, there will be more to follow in my hand. I am reminded that grace in life is about making lemons out of lemonade and knowing that nothing sticks around forever if you are just willing to work with it.

I ended up with 394 points, over 100 points ahead of my husband. The word, “burgers” helped tremendously, garnering 70+ points for using all seven letters in one turn. So did knowing obscure short words like “em” (the letter M), “zee” (the letter Z), and xi (a Greek letter). I had been fixated on breaking 400, only to be beat out by the word “quo” as the last turn by my husband. I had lost track of the fact that he could “go out” at any moment and yelled out a groan when I realized that he had used up all his letters, with no more available to draw. Great fun and a big “argghhhh!” later, Scrabble has taught me that the goal is not the point. Nor is beating my opponent squarely. It is the joy of creating something out of nothing, and getting points for doing it. That happens a lot to me these days.