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bigbonkersblog · 7 years ago

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Your best isn’t your best. Sorry

When creating a character for a game you usually come across several options - Hair colour, skin tone, intelligence, strength and more. I find that this ability is possibly one of the most unrealistic and outrageously other-worldly attributes in any game I’ve ever played! Particularly choosing how agile a character is or what social traits they posses in games like ‘The Sims.’ I honestly wish we had had these character creation options when we were born. I can only imagine how I would’ve invented myself - perfect hair, unchallenged intelligence, incredible strength and agility beyond compare. The problem isn’t that we don’t get to choose these things for ourselves, we do: If you want to be smarter you can read more books or to become skinnier, adopt a new diet. However the problem is that the choices we make in real life have one key difference to games and the world of fantasy; something that means instead of becoming a strong warrior with bulging forceps and great wisdom or a fast archer with good stamina and a keen eye, we are all lesser versions of ourselves - the slightly chubby and not so outstanding persons who would rather snuggle in our blankets on a Friday night to watch Netflix than save a damned kingdom; the line between the greats of the fictional world and us.

In real life, we need to work for these things. In life, to become stronger we must lift weights at the gym or to become more attractive we need to workout and eat healthier. Some of us do these things and get the attributes we want but it’s never as easy as clicking a button to add +3 stamina to our latest character. Now I’m not saying we could be better or should be better because in games while it makes sense to choose a six pack over a more fatty belly, we don’t have this luxury in life - we sacrifice our potential attributes and talents for comfort and this is what makes us human. If we worked our whole lives for perfection without comfort there would be no point to it. What would the end goal be? Many people tell us our best is the best you can do but that would mean to stay up 24 hours a day dedicating all of our time, resources and energy into being as efficient as possible; it’s just unrealistic.

There are some exceptions to this as it is no excuse to waste our days inside building a fantasy version of ourselves, our sleep deprived eyes fixed to character creation screens deciding whether to spend our skill points on stealth or combat ability. What we need to do is find the in between - the cosy spot between the laziness of slouching indoors all day and the psychotic stress of working our hardest for little gain. Each weekend I go to an event called park-run where people of all ages and abilities show up to run 5 km. Occasionally I’ll drag myself away from the laptop or play station to do independent running. This is a happy in between where I can feel great about myself every time I put in the effort and stay healthy while being able to rest throughout the remaining week.

But I hear about some people who will run 10 km each morning at 5 am just for a warm up! I have nothing but respect for what they do but I sometimes wonder if they’re pushing themselves too far? Or perhaps they’re just more agile than me. Instead I sacrifice a better body for simple comforts like Netflix and cheeky, sugary foods when no one’s at home and I’m feeling a bit peckish and I should really eat an apple but I’ve already spotted the packet of digestive biscuits.

On the other side of the spectrum you have those too lazy to lift a finger or even consider bettering themselves. I hate to seem arrogant yet I must address them because they are the worse extreme on the effort scale. For those who are fans of star wars, imagine Jabba the Hutt: slobish, stupid and socially incapable. The Jabba the Hutts of the world will stay indoors sacrificing all hope of any talent or accomplishment whatsoever for days spent skipping school and eating crisps while binging the latest series of ‘Game of Thrones,’ expecting their every wish on a silver platter. At least Jabba had some leadership qualities. For those who are less odd and would’ve needed to ask their brother who Jabba the Hutt was, (Like me) these people are like the stereotypical (yet very inaccurate) teenager - not caring and self obsessed. Though I do sympathise with them, believing luxuries like snacks and chocolate (which I’m craving right about now) are somewhat essential to a happy life, they come in rations. I too neglect going outside sometimes but like to make up for this in more academic aspects like working on homework or reading. And although I may have exaggerated the disgust and disrespect I have for these people, they do need to be pushed, if not by themselves then I will take on the responsibility right now and say this (imagine me on a stage with dramatic, inspirational music playing):

“The more you procrastinate and fantasise about the future, and the more you dream of how your life will change and believe in a time when you’re problems are solved and you’ll do something to better yourself, the more of a fantasy that time becomes. But don’t go and work insanely hard to be the best. Work to be at least acceptable, someone that you accept and can honestly say you’re happy with and that others will be too. Someones that didn’t just say they couldn’t be bothered. Look in the mirror and begin to figure out what you need to improve as though you were looking at a character creation screen. Because talents wasted aren’t talents at all.” - Scott Murphy

I may create a continuation of this as it there is so much to talk about but I’d like to end with one harsh truth: despite what you do - your best or worst - someone will always be better than you : ) you’re welcome

#doyourbest #character creation #blog #bigbonkersblog #running #workhard

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