Dr. Nava Silton’s three ingredients to happiness

4,592 Comments / 2019, Chess Culture / By

Two and half years ago Dr. Nava Silton posted in the UWS Mommas Facebook group that she was looking for a chess camp for her son. Several people recommended ours and after a demo lesson and some back and forth, she signed up her two kids Judah and Jonah. Since then, Nava has become a good friend and inspiration. Last week she did an insightful talk about happiness during The Camp Girls’ Shmini Atzeret lunch. According to her, the three main ingredients are unity, giving and fun, which are three fundamentals we abide by.

With few barriers to entry, chess provides unity among age, religion, socioeconomic class, etc. We teach students ages 3-100 of all backgrounds. Whether it be a preschooler at Chabad of Stamford, a lawyer at Kramer Levin or a resident at Village Care, we teach the same business and life values through the game.
Furthermore at our monthly tournaments at Asiam Thai Cuisine, we will often get a mix of students, young professionals and adults. While during the day, we all live very different lives, we come together in the evening due to our mutual passion of chess. I have had the privilege of now playing tournaments in 10 countries; soon that number will be 11 as I play a tournament outside of Naples during Thanksgiving week.

Stephen Spahn, the headmaster of my Alma Mater Dwight, shares how each student should find their “Spark of Genius” and utilize to make a difference in the world; for me it was pretty obvious chess was it. While chess has proved to be a great source of income, it has also been a great way to give back.
There are currently four ways we are doing that:

  1. If you have a fundraiser, please email us as we’d love to donate a chess lesson to silent auction/raffle. If event is in New York City, we will donate a 1-hour group class with CEO National Master Evan Rabin for up to 10 children or adults, valued at $400. If event is anywhere else in the world, we’d love to donate  a 1 hour online private lesson, valued at $90.
  2. Next Thursday, November 7th, Evan Rabin will be one of the co-hosts at the Christodora Gala. In addition to getting a chance to help raise money, you can meet Evan and bid on many great silent auction items, including a group lesson with Evan himself.
  3. At our 1st Annual Premier Chess and Top Level Chess Grand Prix Tournament #2 on November 16, we will be hosting a silent auction to raise money for esteemed chess teacher Juan Sena, who is unfortunately currently suffering from ALS. Email us if you have a product or service you’d like to donate as auction item.
  4. We are actively recruiting for volunteers for our 3rd Annual Make a Difference Teaching Chess in Africa trip; if you are enrolled in high-school, college or adult, consider applying today!

Giving back allows us to be grateful for all that we have. In New York, we do teach in some relatively poor Title 1 public schools; however, they have many more resources; than the private catholic school we teach at down in Tanzania, which lacks simple items like toilet paper. It is also not uncommon to see kids as young as 3 or 4 taking care of their younger siblings.
While we exceed in our professions and give back, it is also important to have some good clean fun. While hard work is crucial, it is important to have a work-life balance and enjoy everything you do. A chess player should not play a tournament purely because it is going to help his career; he should also enjoy it. Likewise, while chess is obviously our main focus at camps, we make it a point to do some other exciting activities, such as a basketball lesson with Hands on Hoops or field trips to The Brooklyn Museum and Janam Tea. While you may think that hour away from work or study is a distraction, the hour spent enjoying yourself having fun will make you be more productive later on.

Everyone on this earth should be happy! While happiness is certainly not an exact science, we should strongly consider following Nava Silton’s three suggestions: unity, giving and fun. If you put a smile on your face, people will notice it and it will have a domino effect.

4,592 thoughts on “Dr. Nava Silton’s three ingredients to happiness”

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