Life As A Game
In the last few weeks, I’ve taken life too seriously.
I started by setting ambitious goals at the beginning of the year and then got stuck on wanting to achieve them, instead of enjoying the process or being grateful for what I have.
That’s the trap all wise ones talk about: our craving for things is our suffering.
How can we desire yet not suffer?
Some talk about the concept of detached commitment - being committed to the process but not the outcome.
While I like that concept, it’s hard for me to implement naturally.
And so I was reminded this week about one perspective and way of being that I forgot: play.
What if we treated life as a game?
Like a friend once shared:
Life is a game that you can’t lose.
This is not necessarily physically speaking true; but it’s his mindset, and that mindset allows him to conquer, to lose and to live freely.
If life is a game, then we shouldn’t take success or failure personally.
Anything we do, we can do it with sincerity and according to our own rules - like no cheating, honesty, genuine care.
Then, everything just becomes a nice to have - instead of tying our entire self-worth to achieving our self-proclaimed identity.
As we are ending the Chinese Year of the Snake this Tuesday, which was about shedding old patterns away, I want to shed off the part of me that forgets to play.
Because life doesn’t work better if you’re unplayful. It just is less desirable.
Wishing you to get rid of whatever patterns are holding you back !
To a great Year of the Horse ahead, filled with meaningful momentum -
Gui
PS: My newsletters have been more personal recently; I hope you enjoyed them. More professional stuff coming soon too if you’ve been missing them - but one thing at a time!