Video games are a huge part of modern day culture.
Whenever there is free time to kill, picking up and paying a video game seems like an easy and efficient way of entertaining yourself, while stimulating your mind.
Some games are more strategic, and some games are more thrilling, but the end result is the same - time wasted.
Now, I am not here to talk shit on gamers because I have friends that are gamers, and I myself was even somewhat of a gamer at one point in my mid teenage years.
While I personally no longer play video games because I do see them mostly as a waste of time, I think the concept of a video game can be applied to many things, especially life.
What I mean by this is that life can be looked at as one of the many games that people enjoy playing.
As you advance through the game, you get to harder, more difficult levels that require more skills and knowledge of how the game is played in order to beat those levels and ultimately beat the game.
Back in the Super Mario days, there was always that one level that tormented us that we could never get past, until one day we finally did.
Life is the same in many respects!
As we continue to age and gain more knowledge and more skills, the challenges we face get seemingly harder.
Not to mention, life has a way of throwing in a whirl for good measure from time to time, much like a boss would in a video game.
What is important to note is that the more invested we are at beating a game, the more we are not willing to give up until we finally beat it.
Which then brings about the question as to why people choose not to do the same about life?
Is it because the video game can give you a minor break and escape from reality?
Is it because you are capable of achieving in a video game but not in life?
The way I see it is this: when someone is invested in a video game, they are purposely looking for the path to win because that is the whole point - to beat the game.
In a game, it is very black and white because you are presented with choices and these are the choices that the game provides for you.
Life is more complex because there are a million different choices that we could make at any second of any day, some of which could cost us big time.
But the fundamental rule still applies - the more invested you are, the more likely you are to win.
Yes, you could beat a video game in the matter of a few hours if you truly feel like wasting that kind of time.
No, wins in life don't come as easy as they do in a game.
When you begin to view life through a means of gaining leverage, winning starts to be seen as attainable.
You may not always have the answers and truth be told, nobody really ever does.
The only thing we can do is continue to work on the small wins everyday that will eventually compound over a long enough period of time into a bigger win.
Once the big win is accomplished, we officially move on to the next level of the game which will present us with even more challenges with more skills and knowledge that need to be acquired.
Each level is a testament to your strength and your character.
Are you going to quit because the game is too hard?
Or are you going to keep playing the level over, finding new ways to defeat it so that you can move on to the next?
I wish life was as easy as a video game, even though I suck at most video games and choose not to waste my time trying to get good at them.
For me, I would rather get good at life and continue to build my knowledge and skill set to better serve me and my purpose.
To me, this makes more sense and is worth more of my time than trying to compete against 13 year olds who play video games day and night.
Life is more challenging and is a much better game that is worth playing.