where does it end existence as a thought
and become reborn as an action?

can you point to the spot?

so what’s the difference between thought and action?

If there is none, then my actions are only limited by my thoughts. And I sure do have a wild imagination! So look out, world!

You’re sad about the tragic bombing in kazmuchnistahn
I’m excited about breakfast

You listen to the TV, the radio, the academics, and the teachers
who tell you what’s impossible.
I know nothing is!

Wouldn’t you like to join me
in wonderland?

All you have to do is
the hardest/easiest thing:
let go!

A role playing game, perhaps? Or a difficult action game? You want to
solve it perfectly, play it perfectly. Get the best score, get the
strongest item, complete the hardest quest, maximize your experience
points.

How many hours of concentration have you put in? How massively much
positive energy have you poured in? Honing your brain solving puzzles,
sacrificing dinner to play an extra 30 minutes..

Your energy for the game is nearly boundless. It is monumental,
admirable.

Yet outside the game, ordinary life, reality, sets in and disappoints.
Real life sucks, you say. Perhaps there’s too much irrationality,
arbitrary rules, pain, or emotions. Perhaps you’re broke and working a
dead-end job. Perhaps your girlfriend is ugly.

All the while, inside the game you’re able to push, in a massively
positive way, for perfection.

What if..

You found a way to harness that inner energy you have for the game,
change the energy not at all, but simply slightly change it’s
direction, it’s focal point. What if you found a way to turn your life
into a game? You start by figuring out how to score the game: more
pleasure and happy feelings = positive points, more pain and sadness =
negative points. Now your task is simply to maximize your score.

Impossible, you say? Too many things are out of your control?

But isn’t your own happiness is in your control? After all, people have learned to find happiness in much more dire circumstances than yours.

Maybe being unhappy simply means you need to go back and work on your game-of-life technique some more.

I challenge you to a game of have-a-kick-ass-lifetime!

peace on earth?

a comfortable, free life for all?

respect for all sentient beings?

(plain old world domination?)

now

imagine the world is as you want it to be.

what now?

what’s next?

up! like on a rocket!

then whizzing by the marketplace
I barely notice
the people tiny like ants
hanging out in the known

boring! I think
until I lose focus and start to fall
and catch myself, grinning
at my contradictions

• lesson 1: practice makes perfect. This is a lesson I’ve learned/had reinforced doing lots of things, among them playing video games. For certain types of games, I can really see a difference from day to day in how well I do. One example is Ikaruga, a space shooter that’s both super awesome and super hard. I’ve also learned that sometimes it takes a while for the learning to sink in. Play for an hour, then stop, get a good night’s sleep and come back the next day and I’m better at it, guaranteed. This is true for many things in my life.
• lesson 2: persistence pays off. This is a bit of a variation on lesson 1. If I make a goal, say, finishing a game, or beating it on hard, or whatever; if I persist I will attain my goal. Depending on how far I am from the goal, it make take more or less time. Persistence works, and works well, in many areas of life; it works better, I think, than most people realize!
• lesson 3: A is A. More specifically, games are programmed to operate according to rules, and their programming is what it is. There’s no point in arguing about whether it should or should not operate the way it does (except maybe for game designers!). And the computer can’t “cheat”, it’s just doing what it was programmed to do! A is A, take it or leave it! I find this especially valuable to remember when I’m faced with a truth that’s difficult to face.
• lesson 4: fun is only fun when it’s fun! When I find myself beating my head against the wall trying to get past a certain level, or just go a little further, it’s time to stop. Usually there’s a limit to how much progress I can make or how long I can enjoy a given game. This is true of many things I do for pleasure (i.e. just about everything!).
• lesson 5: participation is more fun than just watching. Watching video games is ok, but playing is more fun! Watching sports is ok, but playing sports is more fun! Watching TV is ok, but living my own life is more fun! Participation is harder, but I get more out of it. There’s a limit to how far this goes, but the relative value generally holds for me.

That’s just a few, and there are other ways to learn all of these. I just happened to experience these lessons playing video games.