Why Life is Like an Adventure Game

Life is like an adventure game.  No really, it is.  You know how in the beginning of a game you’re given this big task that you have to complete and it’s basically the underlying plot of the whole game?  “You must save the La-dee-dah Princess of Blah Dee Blah from the Sinister Herp-Derp of Evil Thingers.”  Sure.  Great.  Let’s do it!   But then you start playing and Mr. Shopkeep wants you to do this for him, old hag in disguise wants you to do that, and before you know it you’ve been playing for 12 straight hours and are seemingly no closer to Princess Sparkly-toes or whatever her name was. Granted, you’ve been having a pretty good time, since you (hopefully) play adventure games not for their magnificent (yea, ok) plots but for their challenging puzzles and the “journey” as it were.  

The adventure game of my life has been pretty straight-forward.  I have an ultimate goal and a number of side goals that I feel would make my life more meaningful until the time when I reach my final goal.  Because I wouldn’t get very far in life if all I focused on was that ultimate goal, when I don’t yet have everything I need to get there.  Things always end up keeping me busy or taking up time.  “Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.”  Mr. Shopkeep wants me to do this for him, Old hag (not in disguise, cause we’re in reality now) wants me to do that.  Here I am, nearly 26 years old, and what do I have to show for my work?  No closer (seemingly) to that ultimate goal, but oh the things I have done so far!  I have slayed the dragon of unemployment, traversed across the mountains of self doubt, bested fate in a chess game to end all chess games, and come out (almost) unscathed.  So where’s the pot of gold?  How do you finish the game?  Do you just keep doing mindless tasks and combining arbitrary objects until you have suddenly created the most useful tool EVER that no one ever though they would need?  Keep distracting yourself with little things, always trying to keep something on the To Do list above Agenda #1?  Often our ultimate goals are not something we can work towards, they are something that we someday hope will come to us, but we cannot pursue them or even see any steps we can take to get us closer to them.

Unfortunately there are no cheat codes or walkthroughs for the game of Real Life.  We just have to keep wandering from screen to screen hoping that something pops out at us that we didn’t notice before, keep trying different combinations until finally, hopefully, something breaks and the path becomes clear.  That piece of chewed gum you picked up in the first level may be just the tool you need in the last minute.  You just never know.  I’ve got my menial tasks to keep me busy, plenty of them.  The everyday ups and downs of simply surviving are enough to keep anyone busy for a lifetime.  The trick is to keep that goal in sight so that when opportunity rears its head, like the proverbial “Cutscene to Act 3”, we will be ready to forge on.  Here’s to eventually winning the game of life.