The real benefit I am getting out of chess

In my first blog I talked about my goals with chess.  I enjoy learning and playing chess, but there is a deeper motive to wanting to play again.  I played a far amount of chess in the early 90's, and like anyone else who either discover the game for the first time or rediscovered it, I had dreams of becoming a grand master and even the world champion.  After some time I realized that these dreams were just that dreams, I did not have enough love for the game to sacrifice my life to achieve these lofty goals, that does not mean that I do not enjoy playing or that that I do not love the game.  What I did notice in myself was that chess had made me a better thinker, and I was able to analyze situations in my day to day life better.  I was calmer when stressful positions entered my life, and I saw more solutions to problems as well as the consequences that those decisions might bring.  Sounds like deciding what to do in a chess position, huh?  So I have returned to this game with a few materialistic goals on ratings, but the real victory for me will happen as my decision making process improves and my life does as a result of it.