Life According to Pinball

Since my days as a B.Sc. student I have the habit of playing pinball while doing assignments or studying for a test, no, I'm not saying I'm solving questions with one hand and hitting the ball with the other.
It's just that after solving a hard question or completing a test I have the urge to somehow "reward" myself, having a snack works as well but it's a bit more fattening. So when I want some short break (after all I have more questions to answer) I turn to pinball(Windows pinball). Well, I admit playing spider solitaire for the same purpose but pinball has a big advantage: after playing for a while it's possible to play mostly with your instincts letting your mind wonder around and sometimes creating a jogging-like effect, that's actually how I got the idea for this bizarre post.
I also think that pinball can be pretty educational. I'm not kidding (well maybe I'm not THAT serious).
Here are some lessons that I think can be taught playing pinball:

1. Think well about your options before leaping to the extreme solution.
Imagine the next situation: the ball is descending quickly and it seems like it's going for the middle (and your Center Post is not on), the reflex of most people is just to hit hard and fast with both flippers, WRONG! (at least most of the times). From my experience the best options are either to stay cool and it might be that the ball WILL hit one of the flippers or hitting only with one flipper hopefully diverting the ball onto the second flipper (remember, if you hit with both flippers the second flipper isn't there to catch the ball).

2. Timing is everything.
This one is pretty trivial in pinball, it's not enough to do the right thing, sometimes you must have perfect timing. It's not enough to hit the ball, if you're after the Reflex Award (and maybe completing the launching mission) you have to be very precise.

3. Live the now.
It doesn't matter if you've messed up the first two balls, you might still break a top score with you're third ball. And vice versa, scoring 10 mil. with your first ball doesn't guarantee you anything about your next two balls.