You may or may not have noticed, but gaming is an extremely popular form of entertainment these days – one that virtually everyone under the age of 40 engages in, at least occasionally.
Obviously, there are a bunch of reasons why gaming is such a runaway success – including the fact that it’s really fun, it offers an immersive way of engaging with deep and powerful storylines, it allows friends to enjoy competitive activities without being together in the same physical space, and more.
But gaming isn’t just fun because of bright colours, explosions, and interesting fictional settings. Part of the reason it’s so engaging is because it can put us into certain states of mind that we all, more or less, associate with a sense of thriving.
So, here are a few good life lessons you can take from gaming, so that your everyday existence can become more exciting, interesting, and fun as a result.
Be willing to think outside the box
In many games, and especially in puzzle games, whether in the form of an online escape room or a horror game that is based around escaping from a Gothic castle, the only real way to progress and to make it to the end is to get comfortable with thinking outside the box.
It is specifically because puzzle games demand that we think outside the box that they can be so frustrating on the one hand, and so satisfying on the other hand. Because, in other words, we need to engage with tricky situations, invest energy, and move past those obstacles.
Then, after the inevitable setbacks – when we do succeed – victory feels all the more sweet as a result.
In life, it’s often very useful to think outside the box both with regards to figuring certain things out in your personal life, getting your professional life on track, and any number of other things. And it’s often really satisfying, as well, to overcome the bigger obstacles you might have been facing in everyday life, because you were able to successfully do a bit of creative thinking outside the box.
Focus on pursuing things that you find meaningful and exciting
Almost by definition, no successful game has you spending a lot of time working on things that you find really dull, uninteresting, and meaningless.
Contrary to this, we all tend to take it as a given that our real everyday lives will inevitably require a bunch of grinding away at tasks that we really don’t like, and ultimately find deeply unfulfilling. And it’s certainly true that most people likely aren’t going to enjoy doing the dishes.
Keep in mind, though, that it’s always possible to make changes in your life so that you are spending more and more time focusing on pursuing things that you actually find genuinely meaningful and exciting, and less and less time working on things that you find hollow and soul-destroying.
If you keep moving in the right direction for long enough, you may even be able to escape the mindless drudgery altogether, and to have your life structured around meaningful, engaging, and exciting activities, pastimes, and avenues.
In either case, there’s no reason to give up on an exciting and meaningful life, without a fight.
Treat your life as a great story that’s busy unfolding
In addition to fun and engaging gameplay mechanics, the leading reason for the success of many of the most highly acclaimed games of all time – such as The Witcher 3, for example – is the fact that these games often have deeply compelling stories and narrative elements.
As human beings, we all view the world in terms of stories and narratives, in a wide variety of different ways. We think about the meanings of events, the development of relationships, the directions we want to head in, and the influence of fate, rather than just calculating everything in a strictly rational sense and “crunching numbers.”
Cormac McCarthy once said that “each man is the bard of his own existence,” and there’s no reason why you shouldn’t think of yourself as the hero or heroine of your own great and unfolding life story.
Instead of getting swept along by the currents of life, or trying to calculate everything in purely rationalistic terms, start thinking of your life as a great story, and pay attention to how you want to write the chapter you’re currently living through.
If you begin approaching things in this way, you will likely find that your life becomes a lot more magical and exciting, overnight.
Take the time to recognise and enjoy the beauty that’s already present in your life (and add some more whenever you can)
For a huge number of games today, cutting-edge graphics and breathtaking visual elements are a key selling point that many gamers find really important and engaging.
If you’ve played a game like Assassin’s Creed Valhalla or Red Dead Redemption 2, you’ve probably spent a decent amount of time just sitting in one place and savouring a great landscape, or the attention to detail that was put into the animations of the different characters.
Translate that lesson to your real, everyday life. Instead of always being distracted, take the time to pause periodically and actually notice and enjoy the beauty that’s already present in your life.
Savour the taste of your first sip of morning coffee. Get lost in the majesty of the sunrise or sunset. And, wherever and whenever you can, add some extra elements of beauty to your life as well.
Stay in motion, don’t let yourself stagnate
In every good game, there are things to do, and staying in one place and stagnating is never on the cards. At least not for long.
In real life, many of us end up giving in to passivity and becoming stagnant, from time to time.
But if you are sitting in one place and doing nothing (as opposed to just pausing regularly to savour the moment and relax for a time), you are missing out on a lot of the excitement and adventure of life.
Take this lesson from gaming: stay in motion.
