Checkers vs. Chess

I've heard many people make the analogy that life is like chess. 
I agree.

To do well, you need to think at least several moves ahead.
If you treat most of the people around you like pawns, you won't have much support left in the end.
If you spend the entire time mimicking someone else's moves without thinking up any of your own, you are likely to be a loser (and you aren't much fun to play with).
Hold your horses.  If you're always in a hurry to rush in like a knight, once you make that turn at the corner, you may be surprised by what's waiting for you.
Always do your best to hold on to your queen (whatever your queen may be), because once the queen is gone, the game gets much harder, and you may find yourself having to rely on pieces you hadn't been paying too much attention.  

I've also been told that when you get really good at treating life like chess, it becomes easy to spot the people who are playing checkers.  All of their pieces look the same, all of their moves restricted to the same pattern, and their major goal the entire game is to cross over to the other side so that they can shout "King me!"
However, I can't tell you how many times I've gotten all confused in a game of chess and found myself thinking, "I wish I was playing checkers..."