“Well, we have a 7 for you. Not bad — just better than the median. Of course, now comes the defining part.” He dealt me cards: Family, 3; Love, 3; Career, 2; Athleticism, 2; Wealth, 4; Friends, 4; Intrigue, 3. He slid a stack of seven tokens across the smooth surface. Then he sat back, broke into a wide smile and said, “It’s your move.”

I let out a long, slow exhale, trying to put it all together. This would be my life, at least this time around. You never knew whether you’d get another chance at the table. This could be my only — perhaps my last — run.

I had some fair numbers. Capabilities for people and wealth were pretty good. The problem was, I could only cash in on some of that. Seven units would be quickly spent across so many categories, even when they were leveraged with 3’s and 4’s.

Family: yes, I’d want that experience. Joy, frustration, and a sense of legacy in an impermanent world. I put 2 tokens on it; only 5 left.

Love: makes the world go round, right? At least my world, giving a sense of purpose as well as satisfaction. It was more than just the affection for a particular person: love was an attitude toward life. This one was also leveraged. I put down 2 units for a net impact of 6.

Career: nice to have, yet it had the potential to be cold, mechanical, encompassing. It could give you empowerment, or lead you down a chase that made you miss the point of the run. I held.
Athleticism, a rare card. I’d like the gift, but if I could just get around adroitly in the world, I’d be happy. If it had been a Health or Longevity card, I’d go with it. But a star athlete? I could make my way without.

Wealth: now wouldn’t that be nice! This must come from luck or inheritance, since Career was dealt separately. I’d made a muck of it last time. I tried to imagine what it would be like not to worry about finances, to skip the inevitable arguments over money. But if love or money were the trade-off, I’d stay with love. Pass.

I hesitated before moving on. With a leveraged value of 4, even just one unit of my 7 would make life a lot easier. Was I sure about this? Life was hard without good access to resources. But I only had 3 coins left. I wasn’t making the trip for “easy.” I passed.

Friends: gotta have some buddies with whom to share the ride. Otherwise, you may as well end up on some paradise planet all to yourself. How fun would that be? I had a leverage of 4; I could easily spend one unit.

Intrigue: now there was my card. One of the things I most enjoyed was following the unknown down a trail of curiosity and wonder. Indeed, this had caused me some grief when it came to things like discipline, focus and completion; but it was second only to love in bringing me joy. Exploring new threads of thought, feeling the rush of sudden insight, stopping in overwhelming awe at the silhouette of a cliff at sunset – it was like a drug, a natural high of the mind. Whether rounding the next corner in a line of logic or on an uncharted mountain trail, I had to be free to roam. I used 2 units, jacking the value to 6.

So there it was: 7 units spent; a net value of 22. Should be a good ride. I sat back, looked at the cards and tokens one last time, and answered the question I knew he would ask. “Yes, I’m sure.”