LIFE IS LIKE A VIDEO GAME
Volume 14

The Game Of Life Begins

Downloading the game is like being born.

Studying the game tutorial is like observing the world around you and making sense of it.

Learning the game controls is like learning how to walk, talk, move your muscles and use your body.

The Stages In The Game

Every game comprises stages and every stage comprises levels.

The early stages represent the academic institutions that we go to, like kindergartens, schools, and universities. These then continue with later stages of life, from adulthood, jobs, marriage to being parents.

The levels are the challenges we face during the stages of our lives.

Choice & The Easy Way Of Cheating

Now, when you’re living the challenge at a particular level, you’ll often encounter situations where you’ll be presented with two choices in order to move ahead: cheat, or just go through it using skills and hard work.

Cheating is like using “cheat codes” in a game. These are activated using passwords or controller buttons which help the player skip levels or make the game easier or harder to play. It all depends on the player.

Consider this real life example. You and your friend are having a disagreement. Others gossip about it, making you both feel miserable. Here, there are 2 choices of action:

1. You can suppress your feelings and pretend that nothing happened. You could end up resenting each other as others goad you with what was supposedly said.
2. You can talk it out in an accepting and calm manner with your friend.

The same goes if you make the wrong decision and actually cheat on an exam or lie about something.

The Hard Way Of Learning & Growing

Cheating is taking the easy way out. It will most likely end in you getting caught or getting through the challenge without gaining or learning anything. You may have missed out on negotiation skills, managing feelings, or thinking skills.

When you go through life challenges using skills and working hard, you improve and expand on your experience. You are able to handle problems much better, become more independent, and become a better person overall. You’ll be proud of yourself and you can share your prowess with others.

There will always be more challenging issues or levels to face in this Game of Life. And that to me, is the most fun part of life.

Let’s Play

The most important part of a game and Life is that when you fail in a big challenge and suffer from a big fall, you get to choose whether to give up or get back up.

In a game, when you fail there will always be an option to quit or play again. It’s the same with life: you can either give up, or repeat doing what you want to do until you succeed. Trying again is getting back up on your feet, not letting the fall affect you.

But most importantly, playing every game until “Game Over” is when you have truly enjoyed the experience of a game well-played.