Whose rules rule you?

When my kids were in Middle School I was silly enough to volunteer to be a youth counselor at my church. I won’t even discuss the obvious lack of good sense that demonstrates on both sides. But that is another story.

One night we played a group game. There were about 20-30 kids sitting in the gym in a large circle. Everyone had taken off one sneaker or shoe and placed them in the middle of the circle. The game was that two people who sat on the opposite sides of the circle would be blindfolded. When they were told to go they were to feel their way to the center of the circle, feel around for their shoe, put it on and get back to their position. The winner would go against winners of other pairings.

It was a typical high energy youth game. Lots of fun and excitement. After a few rounds we got to a young lady named Allison. Whenever Allison played any game she played to win. All or nothing. That was just her. She was blindfolded and then scampered to the center with her opponent to search for her shoe. That is when it all changed.

Instead of feeling one shoe and recognizing that it wasn’t hers and then trying another, Allison would take the shoe she just identified as not hers and fling it out of the circle. Not only would she not waste time trying to identify that particular shoe again she would place it out of reach for any other competitor. Brilliant. Just brilliant. I remember all the adults just shook their heads in disbelief and a little bit of admiration.

Allison knew what the rules were. Sometimes you play by the rules. Sometimes you may bend them or break them. But sometimes the rules are just what people have in their heads. It is what they blindly assume is correct and that they must follow. These are the rules, the assumptions, the ruts we must challenge whenever we can.