Life is like an Videogame

Sure, most people think that videogames are mindless, time wasting fun, but I humbly disagree.

Currently, I'm playing Oblivion, and the scenario for most games of this type are similar. You choose a character, which begins at a very low protection level, and start your adventure.

Facing Challenges

As you venture out from your protected castle/house, etc, you encounter vicious creatures, vicious situations or vicious people, and you need to make a choice. Do you run away, or face the challenges?

Running away seems an easy choice. Self preservation and no risk.

Stand and face the difficulty. Whether it is an injustice, personal struggle or saying no to something or someone, sometimes you need to stand and engage the difficulty. I joke that, "Sometimes you slay the beast, and sometimes the beast slays you".

Difficulty calls on many parts of us to survive in that situation. One of the most important is that we learn about ourselves in difficult situations. Maybe there is a strength deep within, that you never allowed to come out, because you never had the occasion to.

Do we always 'win', when we face and engage difficulties? No, but two things happen;

A. We learn what we can take, and
B. We get stronger.

To recap;

Running away from a difficulty saves you from confronting it, but there is no strength gained and learning how you react to it.

Standing your ground and facing difficulty can be unpleasant, and you may feel scared, but you will get stronger through it, and you will learn where you are weak and strong in those situations.

** Note: I am not saying that you should pick fights with people, be belligerent, aggressive or violent with people, and never walk away from a possibly dangerous situation. You and your support system, know your situation much better than me. There are times you must walk away, take a safe route, put things off til things cool down, or not confront because of safety issues, etc. My point is many of us (me included) make a habit of choosing the "people pleasing" passive aggressive, non-confrontational ways out of difficult situations.

Resting

Most games have a time when the character sleeps and rests, they are revived. Life is tough, and I believe that a good work ethic is vital, but don't forget to rest. Its good to just stop sometimes, clear your mind of the thousands of things that you are trying to keep up with, and rest. A car overheats if its run past its limits, and so it is the same with us. Try to allow yourself to rest. Even if its a few minutes during the day. Rest is as vital as sticking to fulfilling our goals.

You are not alone

Yes, most games have a Rambo approach, but some include a "group heading into a saga" element as well. In life or in a videogame, its tough to go it alone. The more we concern ourselves with others, the more we become stronger, because they are with us.

Your armor

You would never run into the battle of life with just a sword and no armor. You might last awhile, but not for a long while. An armor can be many things, but I hope these pieces of armor we use are tested to withstand the difficulties of life as it ebbs and flows. Many times we hold onto things that "used to work," or "that's what other people use," when we need to choose the armor that's best for ourselves.

Fear

Sometimes we hear something in the dark, or around a corner we have not rounded yet. Fear begins to take hold, because we don't know what the difficulty will use to battle us with. We have touched on the effect of fear a bit. Fear may cause us to back away, which might give the beast a clear idea that we are not sure of ourselves, and it will attack in a forceful manner.

Fear can be healthy, if is causes us to call on our strength in ourselves. We should never charge into battle, unprepared. We should carefully advance, know our armor, know our health limits, know our power, and know when to leave if necessary. With that careful engagement, fear has less of a hold, because we know who we are, what are limits are, what protects us, and we know what we are capable of. Obviously, there will be situations that surprise us, too, but the more we take these tiny steps of facing fear, the larger surprises will be less of a huge surprise.

Finishing

Have you ever finished a particularly difficult videogame? I have. I love to listen to the triumphant music and see the victorious words stating that I have completed all the tasks, beat all the enemies and difficulties, and I have won. It's a good feeling.

Many times we set a goal as "a good thing to do," but when times get tough, we let the goal go.

I hope as we talk about the process of choosing a goal, mini-goals, and meeting the challenges along the way, you will experience the feeling of finishing what you set out to do.