Game On

Someone once said, ~Life is a video game. No matter how good you get, you're always zapped in the end.~ If you think about it, there are times where you feel as if you're living life inside a video game and even though we're not physically holding a controller in our hand to specifically guide/direct us to where we want to be we make do by the choices that are made or possibly going to be made. For those who are true gamers at heart, they know all-too-well it takes determination, teamwork, the will to win, as well as the mental and physical stamina to not give up or quit when you find yourself in certain chapters in the game of your own life that are difficult to get past you just want to tear your hair out, which is what a whole number of people have experienced or experiencing now as we speak.

Without a doubt, life would be so much simpler if there was an all purpose cheat code that one could easily punch in within our mind when you find yourself going through tough situations leaving you exhausted. It would be awesome indeed to just mentally punch in up-down-up-down-left-right-left-right-b-a-b-a-select-start in order to have an infinite amount of hope, love, faith, energy, etc. that tends to drain from us on a semi-daily basis. I think it would be safe to say for those gamers like myself who played Nintendo back in the day, the code mentioned above goes with what I consider to be one of the best 2 player games of its time...Contra. In any case, to even have that particular option readily accessible would most definitely make life a little less complicated to play, so to speak.

As said before, it oftentimes takes determination to not give in to the video game of life, especially when it pertains to climbing the proverbial ladder of success. In some aspect, climbing the ladder of professional success is similar to that of the video game Donkey Kong where he stops at nothing to not let Mario, who in a way is a representation of ourselves, get to the top by throwing obstacle after obstacle in his way. Thinking about it, we're all up against our own metaphorical Donkey Kong in the professional world. You see, even though barrels may not be thrown down our way we're try to be agile enough to not get "hit" by metaphorical obstacles in real life causing us to return to the very beginning inevitably showing us it truly doesn't get any easier the higher you go trying to achieve professional success.

Let me ask you this question, when it comes to matters of the heart in regards to love/true love would you like to be that of an epic romance like in the video game Final Fantasy for PS2? As those who have played the game before it can mainly focus on the romance itself like in FF VIII between Riona and Squall or it can focus on the adventurous journey leading up to the romance like in FF X between Yuna and Tidus. According to Eurogamer Yuna and Tidus' relationship was considered "one of the best examples of a “mature romance" whereby showing the natural progression of making the love story among the fans the best element in the game. Personally speaking, I would rather take the journey leading up to the romance rather than to have it all about romance because it makes for a better story to tell don't you think?

In retrospect, video games and life go hand in hand as they provide something that we're all familiar with...challenges. In life, like video games, you prepare to face and hopefully surpass difficult challenges set in front of you that will test you mentally, physically, emotionally, and most of all spiritually. Of course, there will be times where you'll end up coming so close but fall short and yet it's how you learn from it that determines the thrill of satisfying victory instead of the agony of bitter defeat. In the end, when you have that mindset to never give up and have the determination to keep moving forward overcoming obstacles thrown your way, in a manner of speaking, in the video game of life all-the-while knowing God is by your side giving you strength you can be rest assured its game on.