This world we live in, our lives... it's all really a game. I mean honestly, there's even a board game called The Game of Life. Everything we do- even the small things, it's all a competition. For example, in order to get the internship I want for the summer, my resume has to be better than the others applying. If I want to get the best grade in my statistics class, I have to study harder than everyone else. If I want the perfect boyfriend and a later perfect marriage, I have to meet the guy and win his heart over first. In order to get into the college of my choice, I had to get the best grades and impress the admissions office the most. Although we don't always realize it, we constantly have to one-up the person next to us in order to do as well as we wish. It's all a game.
Now I'm not much of a philosopher, but hey, this idea is pretty interesting and definitely something to think about. Sure, not every situation requires being the best, but you sure as hell have to be near the top if you want to be successful. We spend most of our lives being excited for events, dreading mistakes, learning from our experiences, and then depending on the future for our happiness. During this time, we realize who we are and what we want to accomplish, be apart of, and help to make better. We (usually unintentionally) make everything so complicated, when in reality, it's pretty simple. It's all a game. Once you've got the rules in front of you, it's all about working hard to be the best. With that said, is life really that hard? Or is the hard part really just figuring out how to play the game?
I think this view on the game of life is very interesting, and I definitely agree that in many situations in life we find ourselves competing against others. However, I have my own slightly different version. Personally, I think life is more about cooperation and the ways in which we benefit each other. I think the game part of life comes from overcoming natural challenges such as the necessities for life: food, water, shelter, ect, or achieving self-actualization. After all, its from others that we gain the love, admiration, and respect that gives the most meaning and importance to the things we do. The competition among us is, after all, where we get our motivation to strive harder towards our goals. Sure, we want to be better than others, but we don't want them to fail either.
ReplyDeleteI also often find myself overwhelmed by everything on my mind. In the actual board game of life, there comes a time where each player has to make decisions. Should I or should I not got to college, get married, buy a home, have kids, etc. What ultimately leads to successful decisions, in both the game and in real life, is the extent to which one plans. Planning and preparation are key to succeeding in this game we call life. "Success is when preparation meets opportunity." This is a famous quote that I find to be inherently true. When the time comes for you or me to prove that we are better than our competition, can we? By planning and preparing on an almost daily basis, I believe we can, and ultimately will, fair better than our competition in almost every way we can.
ReplyDeleteI really agree with everything you are talking about regarding how life is a form of gaming. However, something your post really got me thinking about is the fact that none can claim one person to be a winner or a loser. While the competition we may have with "life" itself in order to get good grades, a good job, meet the perfect soul mate, etc... the reality is that if we look at life as a game in this sense, everyone will always lose, despite how many achievements they have made throughout their lives, because we all die sooner or later. Contrastingly, I therefore think it is important to realize that each person has different rules for their own game of life, as well as decides for themselves whether or not they "win." These can be seen through the different expectations and desires each individual tries to get out of life. We are essentially each creating our own "magic circles" for our own lives. While for one person, being rich, getting a good job, and being very powerful in society may be what they constitute as "winning," if they do not fulfill this expectation, they classify themselves as a loser. On the other hand, if someone's life goal is to live comfortably and spend more time with their family and friends, their definition of "winning" is quite different, as they can still be a "winner" without having the most well paid job for example. Therefore, while we are all stressed out during finals, internship searching, and the uncertainty of what we may want to do with our lives in the future, I think something that could help is making a list of priorities and expectations for ourselves, essentially laying out our own personal "rules" of life. Sometimes when I am stressed out, I ask myself "When I am laying on my death bed, what are the things that I am going to remember about my life and will I be satisfied with how I lived my life looking back at it?" This helps me realize that for me personally, MY personal goal in life does not include being the biggest "hot shot" or "work-a-holic" but rather enjoy every moment and learn from my experiences. Not to discount the fact that I definitely get competitive in trying to move forward in life by going to a prestigious school like the University of Michigan, or getting good grades. Overall, I think your post was very enlightening and interesting and definitely see the correlation to gaming!
ReplyDelete-Brigitte
Hey Amanda,
ReplyDeleteI have actually been thinking about life a lot lately. The ideas about competition, the future, success, failure that you touched on have been flowing through my brain and I have wondered about whether life is truly that hard.
Not to long ago a friend told me about a person who challenged others to think about a life without pride or fear. Lately, I have thought a lot about what such a life would look like. If we were all able to live such a life we would take more risks because we would not be fearful of failure. In that case, I believe life would be much easier than it is now, and possibly it would free up our creative imagination to solve life's most pressing problems/questions.
Another idea your post had me thinking about was the African philosophy of Ubuntu. Ubuntu is a philosophy that states "I am me, because we are us." This philosophy is diametrically opposed to the philosophy of life we are taught in western society. If we were able to apply the philosophy of Ubuntu to our own lives, maybe the pressures of life we face: finding a job, finding a mate, living a successful life would not be as pressure filled. Just something to think about.
In any case, I think life is a game too. hopefully we can all end up as winners.