Pearls of Truth for gamers… and for everyone
#1 We play games for fun. If you aren’t enjoying yourself, then something is wrong and it may be your sign to take a break and detour your attention for a little bit. Try not to burn yourself out. You don’t have to outright “quit”, but mixing things up by dabbling in something else for a bit may be just what the doctor ordered. Its always healthier to keep everything in moderation. ^^ Its cliché yes, but the thing about clichés is that they are clichés for a reason.
#2 Dramatics are best left on TV and in movies. While sometimes entertaining to watch, its hardly ever “as fun” to “live” in one as it plays out. Do your best to calm things when things start being made bigger than they really are, or taken too seriously. Sometimes you will just have to agree to disagree and leave it at that and move on. We have a choice in how much weight we give situations. Just because someone else is over-reacting doesn’t mean that we need to as well.
Sometimes in dealing with others who tend to “enjoy” the dramatics a bit more, it can be healthier to practice a “Consider the Source” mentality and simply not feed the issue with further over-the-top reactions. In most cases, you can simply wait it out quietly. Often times the less you play into a hyped situation, the more likely that things will be resolved once the other individual comes down from their dramatic “high”. The less you react to someone else’s dramatics the less often those “dramatic antics” will be directed towards you, because you will in effect “starve” them of their desired reaction, and they will eventually move on to someone else if that state of chaos is important to them. Sometimes you may have to simply “agree to disagree” and just move on from there.
#3 Actively try to not take things so personal. When you feel yourself doing so, take a step back and try and view the situation from some other point of view, or plain entertain the thought that there may be more aspects to the story that you are not fully aware of. Understand that there are a lot of people in this world, and each one of them “lives” in their own individual and unique experience. Its a huge help for us all to gain the understanding and the ability to view a situation outside of how it immediately “affects you”. This is a leaned mentality that gives freedom from having to sweat much of the stresses that life throws at us.
In truth, people simply have different opinions. Its just a fact of life. People have different backgrounds, different cultures, different understandings, and different experiences that shape their opinions and perceptions. Its not really a “personal attack” if someone disagrees with your opinion, or if someone does things differently than you do. You will be better off if you can keep yourself from getting “offended” so easily over something as common as a difference of opinion.
The biggest mistake I see people fall for is demonizing another person and automatically considering that someone else’s nature is spiteful, simply because an opinion or view doesn’t line up with their own. This is a very limiting mentality to entertain, and only serves to keep you unable to expand your own understanding.
#4 Don’t give up! In most cases, we are totally responsible for our own limitations. Our own insecurities are commonly based on personal fear rather than any real fact. Identify why some goals seem “unreachable” to you. Consider that most times achievements are not actually doled-out according to any “divine right” or level of perfection, but rather they are usually given first to those who focus their efforts, keep at it, and happen to strike a little luck in the process. Someone who accomplishes something isn’t necessarily “better” or more deserving than you. You can do it too if you truly apply yourself.