Life As A Video Game

From Eileen McKusick:

PART I

I have been playing around with the metaphor as life as a video game (yes, I am the mother of two teenage boys) and I have found it to be very useful.

In order to play the game of This Life successfully, you first need to have an objective, a mission. What is the point of all of this? Without a mission we flounder, because we don't know what to do and we don't really get anywhere. So this is a very important first step.

Then you have to figure out how to navigate the environment, determine what your action steps are in order to move towards the accomplishment of your mission. What puzzles do we have to solve, which adversaries do we need to overcome?

We have to identify, locate and implement the resources necessary to solve whatever challenges we are faced with,and while executing all this problem solving, we ideally need to keep our health and energy levels up, and our financial credits in the positive.

When we overcome certain challenges, we unlock new levels where we have greater degrees of freedom, but also more complex challenges. These challenges are always going to be there, because that is how the game works, and how we keep growing and learning.

In video games, as in life, the resources to solve the problem are always there, but not always easy to figure out. The better you become at locating resources and solving problems, the more levels you get to advance through.

Looking at life as a "game where we have to solve problems" as opposed to a "school where we have to learn lessons" lightens it and brings more potential fun to the experience. What new level are you ready to unlock today?

PART II

People who have suffered a lot of trauma and stress have a lot of resistance in their bodies and their fields. These frozen areas represent "potential energy".

"Easter eggs" is a term for hidden features within video games, that once unlocked can change the features of the game, or take the user into new rooms or levels.

Areas of potential are like Easter eggs hidden in our fields. As we unlock them we open up to new parts of ourselves.

Healing from trauma becomes more like unlocking potential and discovering the gifts that are hidden there. People who have had a lot of trauma have more hidden potential and bigger piles of eggs to open.

In a way, people who have suffered a lot of stress and trauma have the advantage of having had to get through life with less potential energy available which often makes them stronger. Once they start to unlock all their eggs, they can go to incredible levels of achievement.