What? The game called life?

 So I decided to use the metaphor life is a game to increase my optimism that I have towards my own experiences that occur in my life. Life really is similar to a game. I hope to prove that statement to myself and to you as I write about the joys, perils, triumphs, and failures in my life.

Life can be compared to the game wrestling. After I had lost a close match with a competitor, my coach asked me,” So what did you learn?” There is truthfully much to learn when failure and loss occurs. Now apply that truth to real life. Take debt as one example. After an individual falls into debt, instead of becoming distressed and complaining about their situation, that individual can ask themselves the question what can I learn from this experience? That person will gain experience and knowledge and they will not repeat the same mistake. Remember that this depends on the attitude of individual and these results are also dependent of the the manner that they chose to react.

So when you think of life as a game, what does that change? It can really change every aspect of your existence. Soccer, volley ball, jousting or what ever game that you prefer involves many life like characteristics. These games involve teammates, opponents, coaches, practice, winning, losing, injury, and countless other things that can be compared to our lives. Teammates are our friends, opponents are our enemies, coaches are our teachers and parents, so on and so forth.

Changing your mindset can dramatically change your physical and mental well being. Happiness, anger, sadness, these are only choices that we make in our lives. I have applied the phrase “Choose the joy” multiple times in my life and it has made a notable difference. Thomas Monson said, “We can't direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails. For maximum happiness, peace, and contentment, may we choose a positive attitude.” He is telling us that although we can not change many of our circumstances, we can control our reactions to those circumstances.

One of my favorite Hymns is Count Your Blessings. It says, “Count your blessings name them one by one, count your blessings see what God hath done.” Fyodor Dostoevsky writes about the opposite point of view in the following quote, “Man is fond of counting his troubles, but he does not count his joys. If he counted them up as he ought to, he would see that every lot has enough happiness provided for it.” These quotes explain that life becomes so much better when you recognize all of the amazing gifts that you have been given. I assure you that life becomes so much more pleasing when you choose to acknowledge all that has been given to you.

Not only can we grow from viewing our lives as a game, but we can also learn to enjoy the good times to a greater extent. Looking at life as a game in general seems to ease tension and add a sense of adventure. Just tell yourself that life is a game and just enjoy every experience.