The Game was Designed for You to Win

I was at my cousin’s house the other day. She was battling a “Boss” in Zelda on her switch.

She had stopped to eat dinner with all of us declaring that after the meal, she was going to beat this boss. There was enthusiasm, confidence, a hint of ego, and just the right amount of *fist pump in the air*/*I got this* vibes.

So naturally, after dinner, she does not beat the boss. She made it through the first bit, but then proceeded to be destroyed.

And like any confident person pursing the next level in the game, she went back in to defeat the boss. Made it through the first bit, and died again. On and on this went.

Until she made it to the second level!!!

.... And then got destroyed.

So a few more attempts at that and there is definitely a point where the desire to take a break or give up comes into play.

Caveat here. I am not anywhere near what you would call a gamer. So anything I say as a generalization may be more about my commitment to the game than yours. The point is more about the analogy than the actual endurance so cut me some slack ;) <3

So. Beat over and over. Getting closer and closer but still not beating the boss.

She threw her controller down and exclaimed that she was done.

Our brothers protested loudly! Words of encouragement that “you were so close” and “you are almost there” come out of their mouths. They have been a part of this entire process, pitching in with ideas and strategy, even trying their own hand earlier on.

I pitch in as well...encouraging words come from my spot on the couch.

She was still pretty committed to quitting. Then out of my mouth came, “Keep in mind, the game was designed for you to win.”

And what stuck with me, even though I don't play a lot of games. The core of the game is that most of them are truly designed with you in mind. Designed for you to win. So if those games are designed for us to win, how does that work in the bigger picture in the game of life?

I am not advocating doing crazy things that kill us in attempt to reappear at our last checkpoint here.

What I am saying is that if we played the game of life the way video games are played, knowing it was designed for us to win, how would we play? Or how could we play? Or what would we do differently? How many times would we charge in one more time after the final time we wanted to give up?

My cousin grabbed the controller one more time. And guess what. She beat the boss. <3