THE upside of gaming is not always winning (although that is the goal). I learned that there are precious life lessons to be learned when you play those online games albeit I don’t really like playing them that much. The online games installed on my mobile devices are what most gamers would categorize as boring, granny games. As of this article, there are only 2 games installed on my phone and these are Words With Friends (yehehey!!) and Design Home (wooohoooo!!). Yup. That’s it. During stressful days and getting stuck in traffic, these two games keep me sane for as long as I have internet access! They are a constant in my online life.
If I am considered an online gamer, these are MY games. Not that I excel in them, I get by though and I have really, really good days! I know these games are so far off the spectrum of action games but I do have one “action” game (by my standards) that I can say, I excel in and that is Burger Shop! Yes! I have managed to finish every single category with either perfect scores or at the top of my gaming realm. I am very proud to share this because I really suck at action games. My performance in this game is my sole redemption!
Anyway. I am not going to talk about the game but rather the stuff I realized from actually playing it. I know online games have been taking a beating. Kids and adults get addicted to it badly that deaths from it have actually been reported. Excellent students fail in their schoolwork because of it. Relationships have suffered and failed from it. We have either read about these, know someone or worse, actually be an actual statistic because of it! But just like everything else, there are two sides in every story hence, I am choosing to concentrate on its good points. We already know about how dexterity and hand to eye coordination improves with constant practice, one just needs to acknowledge time limits when playing these games so that we do not end up being entirely “played” by the game.
Quite undeniably, it gives you something to do when there is nothing else you can think of doing for whatever reason. It helps us pass time when boredom is clearly on the horizon. In a way, you can say that it can be a good distraction to stressful situations and idleness. Sometimes we just need to keep ourselves occupied to ease ill, uncomfortable feelings and situations. Retreating into the world wide web’s playground definitely has its perks but you need to know when it’s time to head back and rejoin the real world.
It teaches patience or at least, lengthens the time before you actually run out if it. Many times I found myself getting red in the face and swearing because I fail to achieve my game goals successively. There are times when I was actually near to sending my device flying across the room because failing to achieve my game goals can be so utterly frustrating! I would feel my neck, hand and back muscles tense up and my throat would tighten up from trying so hard not to swear! There were instances that I would get headaches and literally feel dizzy from holding my breath because I was deeply concentrating on my tasks at hand! Hahaha.
I laugh now because going through these experiences has allowed meck to identify how to control my temper and deal with the consequences of failure. It has taught me that although sometimes even my best efforts do not get rewarded, the most important thing is to not lose the drive to achieve it. It has also allowed me to identify “crucial” points, those moments of no return when I totally lose it and just turn into a crazy woman having a bad game day! In real life, similar outbursts can be a rich source of "oops" and regretful moments when you wish you knew better.
Playing my game has allowed me to identify when I am just about to lose my cool and this has given me the warning that I needed to step back before I turn into a crazy woman seething with sheer disgusto about how things are turning out. I know it sounds corny but really, knowing when to back off and play my Burger Shop another day has definitely improved how I choose my battles in the real world. I learned to deal with disappointment, walk away and fight another day. I learned how to stop at mid-game, take a deep breath and reassess my situation so that I can save myself from feeling worse or doing the worst thing possible.
You see, life is never perfect so we need to learn to accept that. Practice does improve performance but still, there is no limit to how much of it you need. The journey to being perfect may not end in perfection but we definitely become better with each effort. Learn to accept the bad with the good and feel positive even if failure is such a pain that you feel all torn up and just about ready to quit. Just rest the same way you close our eyes to relieve eye strain from staring at the screen without blinking for hours just to get a high score (or achieve the level goal). Take a deep breath to get that rush of Oxygen to your brain so you can clear your mind and be able to think clearly. Just rest, do not give up. There will be better days always!
Happy Sunday everyone! Game on!