We did game night with friends last weekend, including Family Feud, complete with funny video clips from the actual show. Admittedly, we’re not quite as funny as some of the real contestants, although we do get pretty tickled with ourselves and our answers. Seriously, do a quick search for contestant videos and get ready for a giggle.

At any rate, we had a great time at game night, and I found a home version in a discount store a few weeks ago, I couldn’t wait to get it home to browse the questions. As we read through some of them while we cooked dinner that night, we wondered who exactly these respondents were, and how long ago did these surveys take place?

Like, for instance, this question: Name something on which you would hate to see an “out of order” sign. Stamp machine? Who did they ask? My grandmother, circa 1973? Did we just dial it back to Kellerman’s, Marge? (That was a bonus Dirty Dancing reference – Nobody puts Baby in a corner. No extra charge for that one.)

We speculated that question and those answers were there just to keep things interesting. You get burned on a question like that and you start to rethink your play versus pass strategy, right? It’s not just about what you know, it’s about how you play it. Strategy.

Everyone who knows me knows I love game night. And I’m almost always a “play” kind of girl — I’d rather be in the driver’s seat and not sitting on the sidelines. The more comfortable I’ve gotten in my own skin, the more I’ve decided there are very few mistakes I make that can’t be fixed somehow, even if it’s that I chalk up the loss and play the game again.

I guess the point of this bit is this: Let’s roll the dice, see what happens. If it’s the wrong choice and I end up losing the game, at least I went down swinging. Wow, this bit is bursting with a TON of mixed game metaphors. I have NO idea what kind of game combines dice and swinging and sidelines and a driver’s seat. My father-in-law would be pretty proud of that hot mess of metaphors.

Occasionally I gamble on a “pass” strategy, but that feels like betting on someone else to lose instead of betting on me to win. Not the same. I’d rather do the work, put in the practice, understand the rules of the game, whatever it is, and play to win.

Who do you bet on? You for the win? Most of the time, the game isn’t a board game. It’s the game of life. Move three spaces forward with a new job. Coach your kid’s sports team, move forward five spaces. Petty argument with a friend, move back four spaces. What’s the game for you today? Are you in it to win it? Ready to go all in? Or gambling on a pass strategy?

I don’t have the right answer for you — that’s up to you. I just hope you’re thinking through your game strategy. You’re the next contestant in this game.