Slide the Bishop

10.

At double-time cadence one had to be extraordinary fit to carry a two-way conversation. This they both knew. Always the social scientist, he looks for clues into her character. What is her weakness, when is her default triggered, at what point is her heel of Achilles revealed? 

“You mentioned accomplishment as one of the key elements...”

“To having fun?” she cuts him off mid sentence, already two chess moves ahead.

“Yes.” He was playing the standard ‘ask open ended questions’ gambit, and she knew it, but decided to counter with a play of her own with the goal of both adding her opinion and keeping the hectic pace. 

“I think, and this is based upon my research and personal experience, that anyone wishing to up their game, test themselves and provide value to their team, must relentlessly push the envelope in the direction of personal challenge.” She paused to inhale as much oxygen as her lungs would allow. “After a period of deep introspection to establish purpose, should one decide to accept the responsibility, one must educate themselves, train their bodies and minds, and commit to the discipline required for achievement of their goals.”

He is alternating breaths with sharp glances at her as they speed down the dirt road, opening a twenty meter gap between them and the rest of the group. It was almost as if they were racing.

“Go on.”

“And then something interesting happens. At the intersection of commitment and continual improvement, at the crossroads of progress and accomplishment, once sees another option. It is a hidden path, unseen by most, not really a road, and certainly not a shortcut, but more a vision, a feeling, a third sense.” She pauses again for air. He wonders if the hunter has been captured by the game as suddenly it appears that the student has become the teacher. He decides to bring the heavy artillery into play and slides his favorite piece, the Bishop to the conversational fire-fight. 

“Tell me about this hidden path.” He sees that just ahead the road takes a blind ninety-degree turn. 

She nods her head in appreciation of his move and continues, “After all the effort, struggle, progress and set-backs, once one’s appreciation and awareness are merged to reality, one sees the path clearly. It was always there and always here. It is difficult to capsulize but the basic idea is that in order to sustain the trajectory of improvement and successful wholistic adaptation, one must find a way to…”

LOOK OUT.