In the stillness of the moment of her King being laid to rest, the voice of her coach cut through so clearly; “Never tip your King so quick…Focus on what you have. Do not be quick to tip your king, You must never surrender.”
I watched this movie the other night and it took me by surprise. I had heard some very positive reviews, so thought I might give it a go. I will typically preview a movie before I watch with the kids, just to ensure it is decent for them… apparently I forgot how slightly inappropriate Ace Venture Pet Detective was for children. He’s a Pet Detective, it couldn’t be that bad? my kids like animals!?!
Queen of Katwe is a movie about a girl from Uganda who (SPOILER ALERT) becomes a chess phenom. It is an amazing story of the human spirit rising above life’s challenges. One moment in the movie moved me to tears… for those that know me, this isn’t hard to do, as I typically wear my emotions like Axe body spray; all over the place and probably too much sometimes!
The scene involved an intense chess match between the lead character and her skilled opponent. She became trapped and simply laid down her King in defeat even though “check mate” was not uttered by her opponent. Whether it was the imagery in the moment, the musical score or the cinematic brilliance, that moment she laid down her King was the moment my heart cried; but not for her (it’s a movie), but for my own self. Great movies will do this to me. When I find myself in the main character, they have won me over!
How many times have I simply laid down my King in defeat because I didn’t see a way out? Life became too much and I gave up? Surrounded by circumstances that seem insurmountable, I’ve quit.
Hopeless….so why try?
Now I don’t have an answer for you…here’s hoping you weren’t reading this post in anticipation of the great “AH-HA” that most of my writing accomplishes (insert sarcasm), but if life has taught me anything, and that this small movie has reiterated, is that in most circumstances, there is a way out. I completely understand that in the difficult moments, these ways out are not always obvious, and in most scenarios seem to be non-existent. The way out may not always look the way we think it should either. When in the depth of a complicated situation, it is usually impossible to see the way out when we are so entrapped by it. So if you take anything from the quote right at the beginning of this post, the hidden gem, is the voice of her coach . Having outside perspective is essential when needing to move ahead and out of the trenches of our difficulty.
so whether personal, professional or business related struggles, we need a trusted outside voice to help guide us out of those difficult times.
Its like doing math with my daughter… my poor girl has her dad’s math brain (or lack thereof). When faced with a question that seems daunting, her first reaction is to throw her pencil across the room, throw her hands in the air and give up. When I am able to finally calm the raging emotional torrent of relinquished hope, and remove the pencil from the wall, we are able to walk her through the steps in the process to get the desired results.
so don’t be so quick to give up… don’t tip your king in defeat.
There is always a way through the difficulty. There may be tears, heartache, hurt, grief, and hopelessness, but there is always a way out; there is always an answer if we listen, take a new perspective and don’t give up!