Life is a game

I was 15 years old at the time, slouching on the couch, watching medieval history videos for who-knows-how-long.

My tummy grumbles in hunger, so I take a quick snack, but now I’m bored of watching, so I’m going to go play games.

After playing for 5 hours, it’s already night. I get called to have dinner, clean up, and put on my pajamas.

Laying in bed, I take my phone again and consume more media through eBooks and comics.

It’s 2 A.M. and I still can’t get any sleep. Reality sinks in; I felt my life repeating like I was a factory machine. I felt terrible.

I was always jealous of the characters in the comics, games, and YouTube videos I watched. They had a far more interesting and fun life than this boring life I had.

“If only I was born in a different world,” I thought. But unlike your typical reincarnation fantasy story, of course, I didn’t just die in my sleep and then wake up in another world.

I wasn’t born in the wrong world or time period. I was meant to be here. So what can I do but accept that reality? It’s not like monsters exist in this world, and it’s also not like I’d become an adventurer. I’m just a lazy human being. But I knew I wasn’t completely useless because I had a brain that thinks of silly ideas.

The clock ticked; it was 4 A.M., and I was scribbling and writing in a notebook. I wrote a profile of myself, similar to my favorite role-playing game.

I played the game of life, and here’s how I played it:

Character “Stats” Statistics

I thought deeply about what my statistics would be if I were a game character. Unlike a typical character’s statistics that have strength, agility, dexterity, etc., the game of life is a little different. The one I made consists of: Level, Health, Intelligence, Spirituality, Stamina, and Creativity.

Seeing how I rated myself on the level bar per statistic, it made me reflect heavily on what I should work on if I wanted to increase that rating and level it up.

Skill Sets

Whether it’s real life or games, there are always skills you need to learn. Although skills in real life are slightly different, their functions are technically the same. Here’s how: You get a skill set related to thinking. Congratulations, you acquired a skill: Critical Thinking. You spend a few months reading thought-provoking literature. You reached level 5! You’re now allowed to acquire a new skill: Problem-Solving. You level up Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving. You get another skill set. You acquired a skill: Writing. You combine the two; you can write a book, news, blogs, or research papers. In a typical game rule, it’s called a combo skill. In any game you can find it, you do the first skill and then use the next. Like how you click on skill 1 then use skill 3.

Equipment and Potions

Unlike your Minecraft armor and sword, equipment in real life is a bit different. Equipment and potions come with buffs. While soldiers have access to in-game-like equipment, a normal person’s typical equipment may be in the form of: Education Attractiveness Technology Education can give us a huge buff on our knowledge; attractiveness gives us a buff called the “Halo Effect,” and technology can enhance our efficiency. You can apply this mindset in many other areas of our life that give us a boost or make things easier for us.

Gaming could be done in real life. For an adolescent, they could be adventuring in their career life and what to do for the rest of their life. And a teenager could be learning more about themselves.

I was always too serious about life, but self-reflection and a little twist in your mindset can really change the game. Just like how the game of life really helped me to take life less seriously and made me view life in a more fun way.

Seeing myself as a character in a game, I wanted to be how I would play my character. It made me take actions because I wouldn’t want my own character to be mindlessly scrolling on TikTok all day, rotting in bed.

I knew that being “too real” wouldn’t make me happy. I wasn’t really a realistic person since I loved fantasy worlds so much. So I adjusted my love for fantasy worlds and games to the real world I’m living in. I guess the spice that your life needs is just a bit of creativity and optimism.

Hello! I’m 10th! I write about personal-development and sharing positivity in my own style. If you found this blog post interesting or helpful, a like and follow would be appreciated! Let me know your thoughts on the comme, Thank you!