Thinking About Life as a Game

Lately I've been doing a lot of thinking about school, the summer, my future, etc. I always found it hard to think a week in advance, let alone a whole lifetime, but I have nonetheless done a lot of thinking about my life in the present and where I want to take it in the future. Like everyone I am focused on working during the summer, gaining work/internship experience. But I am also starting to think more about my future. Graduation is not to far away, which means the LSAT is near, a career is near, a family is near, and all that other good stuff. For me, it has always been hard to imagine how the future would take shape because I have always embraced the spontaneity of life. Just as important, I am scared about what the future holds. Will I succeed?will I fail? What happens if I fail? How will I live a life worth living? All these questions and many more have got me thinking about the fears of growing up.

Despite the concerns I have about my future, I have started to view my life in different manner and it has been eye-opening and liberating. Lately I have begun to think of life as a game, more specifically video games.

One of the main features of video games is that their are multiple lives. When video game character dies, he is instantly able to respawn and the player is able to attempt to reach his goal. If a character runs out of lives, the player is simply able to restart the game and try to reach his goal.

Obviously life cannot operate like a video game, and it would certainly be less interesting if it did. But, what if the mentality of video games could be applied to life; the carefree and risk taking mentality of video games. If we as humans could live life knowing that everything that happens in life pales in comparison to death, think about how fun and exciting life could be. If in every death (i.e. failure) there was a rebirth (i.e. a new opportunity) we would be able to enjoy the richness and pleasures of life without worrying nearly as much about failing. Steve Jobs talked a little bit about this idea in his 2005 Stanford Commencement address. If you get a chance you should watch his speech.

In any case, life ought not be taken so seriously. The pressures and expectations of life can be daunting at times, but if we think of life as a game (only to a certain extent) maybe we will be able to live a life without the pressure and hopefully that would be a life worth living.