Life Is a Game

The other day, while walking my dogs, something occurred to me: life would be more bearable if we thought of it as a game. The idea came to me because, when I walk my dogs along several wide median strips in front of my apartment, I let them reach the edge of the median and make them stop. I wait until no cars are passing and, when the way is clear, I signal them to run across the street. They wait eagerly for my signal, and when they hear it, they run barking with excitement; to them, crossing the street is a game. Anyone who has trained a dog knows that a dog treats activities as a game, always with enthusiasm and excitement.

That attitude we can observe in dogs made me think that we would be much happier if we learned to approach every situation that arises in life as a game. After all, life is an endless series of trials that you must overcome. As soon as you get past one, you already have a new challenge to overcome, a new problem to solve, or a new goal to achieve. We could therefore think of those trials as games: you have no money, so the game is to get some; you do not like your job, so the game is to move to one you enjoy; you hate your neighbors, so the game is to find a better place to live; you do not like your body, so the game is to transform it; you have an illness, so the game is to recover your health.

Of course, I know this is easier said than done and that the consequences of our actions can dramatically alter our lives, for better or worse. I know there may be problems so serious and overwhelming that it is impossible to treat them as a game. But sometimes we become so stressed over so many things that are not matters of life and death that it would do us good to relax and prepare ourselves mentally to resolve those situations as though they were simply a game we want to win and will try to beat again and again until we advance to the next level.