Letting The Game Unfold

I went to play pool tonight at my friend’s barn, where he has a table set up and plenty of room for the kind of conversation that only happens when no one is in a hurry.

He used to own a pool hall in Chicago, along with his trading business, so when it comes to pool, he is a shark. I am more like a little goldfish with a cue stick, but every time he invites me, I go.

We bet a dollar per game, and the running joke is that whoever wins has bail money for the night. The stakes are small, but the laughter is real.

Most nights, out of every ten games, I may win one. But every game gives me something to learn. I get a little better at my bank shots, a little steadier with the simpler shots, and a little more patient with all that green in front of me.

I am also learning some of the rules and small details of pool that are still new to this goldfish. Simple things that sharks already know, like after contact, if nothing drops into a pocket, some ball still has to find a rail. And he’s a stickler for the rules. He has to be. He’s a shark.

There is a quiet joy in pool when I let myself take my time. I line up the shot, let my body settle, move the cue with intention, and watch the cue ball roll down the table, make contact, and send the ball exactly where I want it to go.

And sometimes, of course, it doesn’t.

That is part of the game, también.

Tonight, I noticed that when I did better, I was not getting ahead of myself on the next shot or dwelling too long on the bad shot behind me. I was more present with the table as it was, with the angle in front of me, and with the shot I actually had.

Letting the table unfold one shot at a time. Letting reality unfold.

Tonight, I made some beautiful shots. I actually won four out of ten games, which felt momentous for a goldfish playing a shark.

“Rack em up, Hermano!” Words usually unspoken from this goldfish were triumphantly exclaimed!

But more than the score, it was the conversation, the camaraderie, la hermandad. It was being there, laughing over dollars, watching the angles, missing some shots, making others, and enjoying the simple grace of being in the game.

Sometimes you know you are going to be behind the eight ball, and you go anyway. You face the table as it is, take the shot in front of you, and stay steady enough to learn from whatever happens next. Owning it, embracing the experience, and shooting forward.

You do not have to pretend you are winning when you are not. You also do not have to collapse because you are behind.

You can stay in the game, enjoy the company, learn the angles, and carrying the next shot with as much steadiness as you can.

And even when the eight ball does not drop into your desired final pocket, you can still go home with your head held high cause you let the game unfold on it’s own.

And, you look forward ward to the next game which will present new moments and learnings, and maybe even new hermanos.

My Auténtico Self™