Finding meaning in the game of life (part 3)
focus on what excites you,
“So do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide.
All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”
J.R.R Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring
After leveling up a bit more, you realize that the game of life can be worth playing because you find things that you want to do. You choose things that you are passionate about. You allow yourself to become inspired and therefore energized to win the battles you want to win. And that gives you even more opportunities to level up.
You decide to start working on what excites you and you realize that you want to add your own unique voice to the world. And maybe, just maybe you have a reason to keep going. A reason to get out of bed and you have some energy and motivation to do what you want to do.
You now have reasons to get up everyday because you made the choice not to give up. You chose to fight just a little bit more every day. And it wasn't easy. You chose to get a little better at life, and you know that as a result life got a little bit better. It got a little bit easier because you chose to level up.
You leveled up a little bit more everyday and everyday it got a little easier. You didn’t give up because along the way you found out that life doesn’t have to be all that hard.
You found out that those level 1 demons that used to be kicking your ass everyday can be easy to dealt with now that you have leveled up. It is now finally your turn to slay those demons and who aren’t so scary anymore.
Seeking excitement and adventure
“Adventure heh, excitement heh, A Jedi needs not these things”
Yoda, Jedi Master
Wait? Why would Yoda say this? Isn’t the whole point to seek adventure and excitement? What is going on here?
Yoda is saying that we don’t need adventure because we already have adventure. Living is the adventure. We can’t need what we already have.
Yoda told Luke not to crave adventure and excitement because Luke was not looking in the right place, he was focused outside of himself for a thrill. Yoda was saying that the adventure is our lives.
Yoda was saying that we already have adventure and excitement. We need to be able to embrace life as the adventure.
If you are seeking adventure, you can start by fighting the battles that are already in your life. Take care of the battles in front of you instead of searching elsewhere.
If life is the adventure, then you get to choose to start by working on the problems that are already facing you.
Creating a life around what excites you means getting past the real life the obstacles that are in your way. If you want to have more adventures and survive encounters, you have to start with the problems and encounters that are currently facing you.
Adventure is taking on new challenges in the game of life and forging paths that no one else has ever thought of. Paths that only work for you and what you want.
Excitement comes in knowing that we might not survive and we’re excited to take on the challenges that the game is throwing at us.
Life is a long game, just like D&D. Life only ends when someone decides to give up. The game only ends when you decide to stop playing.
be prepared
Being prepared means, knowing what excites you everyday. Being prepared means knowing what you want to work toward so you can ignore the side quests that might just distract you from your goal.
The more prepared you are, the more you will know what you want out of life.
Being prepared can mean the difference between life and death. Going into a dungeon full of monsters could be fatal if you aren’t prepared first. Make sure you have the right weapons, armor, equipment and healing potions.
In the game of life, we need to prepare ourselves and understand the challenges that are facing us.
Knowing focuses you to work towards building that life that you dream of. The more focus you have, the more excitement and energy you can get!
gaining experience points
Part of the excitement of life is constantly learning, growing and leveling up. When we learn new things, there is always more excitement and adventure to be found in the next thing we learn. We experience the sense of wonder when we go over that next hill. We feel the excitement of life when we discover a new horizon.
The more you learn and grow, the more you are leveled up and can handle more challenges within the game of life.
Keep learning in order to level up. That is your ongoing quest. When you get better, life gets easier to handle.
Learning and growing is essential to life. Living is essential for adventure. Without growth, there is no life. You can’t level up without gaining experience points.
A player who has mastered the game of life understands that learning is an ongoing, lifelong process. Learning does not stop after high school or college. If you have stopped learning, you have stopped leveling up.
If you are doing what you have always done, you aren’t growing. If you stay in the same level of the dungeon, you’ll never be able to move forward and find what you are seeking.
The difference between a successful high level character and a low level character is that a high level person is constantly learning. A high level character in the game of life is always learning and applying what they learn.
High level characters in the game of life are always reading books, going to classes, taking workshops, and watching videos about whatever subjects they are passionate about. If you aren’t continually learning about the game of life, you will never be able to level up.
Successful people become masters at their skills and their professions. A goblin slayer needs to know all about goblins in order to survive while fighting them. They need to know how goblins operate, how they live, how they fight, and how to to kill them. Successful goblin slayers know exactly what weapons to use, when to use them, and how to use them proficiently. Goblin slayers never stop learning and they never stop fighting.
When a successful goblin slayer encounters a new goblin that they have never seen before, they study it, they learn all that they can about it.
High level characters are always learning and adapting to new situations. Because they understand that adapting is essential to surviving the game of life.
Successful people know their characters inside and out. High level characters are the ones who have mastered their skills in a way that serves and helps people, in a way that will make lives better.
Learning and growing is how you gain experience in the game of life.
enjoy thenadventure
to bring into existence that which is not yet,
-Stephen Pressfield The War of Art
Having an adventure means being actively engaged in the game of life. Life is the ongoing and continuing journey that makes you who you are. If you resist life, or refuse to participate in life, you will never find what excites you.
We know that leveling up takes time. Learning and growing cannot happen instantly.
Experiences are not instant. Life requires patience because it take time to gain experience points. It takes time to practice and get better at the skills we choose.
If you ignore the game that is life, you’ll never experience the joy of playing. When you resist the urge to play, you are resisting a chance to become part of something greater than you are.
The game of life is greater than all of us. It was designed for us to play how we want and enjoy all the different aspects of it.
The game of life was designed for us to have the freedom and adaptability to create whatever kind of life we want. Whatever type of game we enjoy playing. We get to choose our class, our abilities, our skills, and our professions.
We get to choose who, and what will be in our lifetime of adventure. If we don't like our character or our skills, we have the freedom to change. Create a new character for yourself.
Life is a marathon because we have to know how, and when to pace ourselves. We have to pace ourselves in order to have the time and energy to enjoy everything that we can. Everything can’t happen all at once.
Embrace life, enjoy life. Allow yourself to be excited about the things you love. Be your own dungeon master, give yourself projects and games you want to play in life. Be open to new adventure and opportunity in the game of life. Create your own place, and your own quests in the game of life so that it can be something that you enjoy!
There are no rules, so why not enjoy yourself?
