The Magic of Brain Power

You can learn to use your brain better just like you can improve your singing or running. I am going to give you the rules for a solitaire game that improves the ability to think sequentially. This is a skill very useful in planning. The game is Trefoil or La Belle Lucie. Use a whole deck of cards. Lay all the cards out, face up, in piles of three. Only the top card of each pile can be moved. The object is to build on the aces from ace to king in each suit. The way you get to these aces, if they are not already on top of a pile, is to move cards and build them down on the same suit. A three of hearts will lay on a four of hearts. You must always have in mind the concept, 'if that then this.' Leaving the aces and any cards of that suit you have built up, you can pick up all the piles two times,(you can lay out the array three times altogether) shuffle and re-lay in the piles of three. You are also allowed to 'pull' one card at any time during the game that would otherwise not be available. The more you play this the easier it gets because your mind becomes more able to follow back to what has to be moved in order for something else to be available. Any time you decide to give yourself any kind of skill you are reaching out for that little spark of magic that will improve your life. Skills do make life less of a struggle. May the spark be with you.