I remember being maybe 8, and game boys were becoming the rage, handheld game units such as Mario and Pacman. I enjoyed the challenge of jumping at the right time to get over barrels and travel across the ravens. I also remember how frustrated I felt by not getting it as quickly or efficiently as others.
The upside of these games is the development of mind-eye coordination in response to external stimulation, determination to conquer and resilience. Thinking, “I will get to the next level!!” only the next level was always harder ?.
Today, as an adult, I can see the similarities between life challenges and the game.
- Situations will continue to play out on a loop until we learn the skill, movement and decide to move through, around, jump or blast through problems and limitations to get to the goal.
- We have access to cheat tips by talking with others, learning from them, and practising different moves to get ahead faster.
- I, the player, am in control of the action and interaction with the ‘game’, making the moves based on what I think is correct at the right time.
- I choose how many times I do the level before stopping and resting or persevering until conquering the level.
- Even when things seem hopeless, useless, failed the level and lessons so many times, the next configuration you choose might just be it.
- The game’s addictiveness can be all-consuming, and our approach can put other realities out of focus.
- The game’s character never really ‘dies’. Their death is a reset, an invitation to start again and have another go.
How many times in life have you felt you have been living through groundhog day, on repeat, going through the motions and not seemingly getting anywhere?
I wonder what could happen in your life if you reflected and overlayed your life experiences as a game level. Seeing the various obstacles, challenges, blocks etc., as part of the game’s plot, is designed to challenge, re-direct, broaden your experiences and thinking.
Could adapting your interpretation of life make it a little bit easier? Distance yourself out of the game, and put yourself in the controller’s point of view; see your life from the vantage point of the bird’s eye view?
Stepping back and going higher, like all things, takes practice, one I was able to adapt to early in life. Thanks, trauma and escapism into my mind. To see the game from a higher advantage point, third person and consider how others in my ‘game’ could be thinking, feeling, and acting out to survive their journey quest.
The invitation is there. I invite you to learn how and experience looking at your life challenges with a more objective point of view, enabling you to observe your actions, feelings and choices more objectively, with more compassion and empathy. We all do things on auto-pilot until we know something different and then choose to do things differently, from a place of awareness and choice.
Going third person is such a powerful process that can take the pressure off getting it all right. Learn how a change in perspective can make all the difference in approaching life.
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