The internet fascinates me, for the opportunities it has in store for each of us. One such opportunity I’ve had, is to connect with a lovely soul, Donald Lee. He too, is a new spiritual author who’s learning how to gracefully step into the role. This week, he wanted to share this interesting metaphor with you and me, to enhance our spiritual growth.
Here’s what he has on his mind.
I love metaphors. I use them to describe and explain spiritual reality. As a musician and a teacher, I often use a music or teaching analogy, like “Life is a school”, “Life is a band”, etc.
After all, how can we understand spiritual things except through metaphors, analogies and paradox?
With all our modern developments, there are many more possibilities. “Life is a movie”, is another great one.
Here is a metaphor of “Life is a video game”. I wish I’d come up with it. But I didn’t. I’ll share it with you anyway because it’s great. Let’s see how it resonates with you.
Life Is a Video Game—Here Are the Rules
This metaphor will help in our spiritual growth, because it has some profound truths nestled within it in the utmost simple yet impactful way.
#1 – The Rule of Accountability
You can only control one player, and that player is you.
#2 – The Rule of Purpose
You will have challenges presented to you. The purpose of these challenges is to help you grow and progress to the next level—to master the game.
#3 – The Rule of Smart Living
You will have limited resources, both internal resources and external resources. You will not know the level of resources assigned to you until you begin the game.
Players who figure out how to best use their resources will do better in the game. Having more resources does not guarantee success; you must learn how to leverage your resources.
Players who can create new resources/tools (both internal and external resources) will do better in the game.
#4 – The Rule of Change
Players are responsible for their own experience in the game. If you are not happy with your experience in the game, you are the only person who has the power to change it.
Other players will come in and out of your experience in the game. However, you will enter and exit the game on your own.
#5 – The Rule of Choices
Players will have many options in the game; choose wisely. Your choices will impact your experience. Your choices will also impact who you become as a player in the master game.
The more you put into the game, the more you will get out of it. Within the master game, there are a multitude of game modes and avatars you can choose.
#6 – The Rule of Virtual Reality
You may identify with the game mode and your Avatar, but neither the Avatar nor the game mode is the real you or the real reality. You are only playing a character in the master game.
#7 – The Rule of Replay
If you fail a lesson or a level of the game, the particular challenge at hand will continue presenting itself to you repeatedly until you successfully figure out how to master that challenge.
Some players may never master all their challenges. Those players may opt to change the gameplay—a new game, using a new Avatar.
#8 – The Rule of Success
The game should be fun, challenging, and fulfilling; the goal is to help you learn. The more you learn, the more successful you will be at the game of life.
The more you can align who your Avatar is with the real you, the more successful you will be at the game of life.
The goal is to create your Avatar into the best version you can make it, given the context, resources, and challenges you have in the game.
#9 – The Rule of Failure
There are no winners and losers, only those who were able to make the most of the opportunity, or less of the opportunity this time.
Players who do very well typically opt to not continue playing new games, since they got the development they needed.
Whatever happens in the game, the real players are safe. Avatars may get hurt but the actual players behind the Avatars are simply watchers of the game.
#10 – The Final Rule
You are already in the game.
Created by Angela Cotellessa.
Used with permission of the author.
Does that give you a new perspective on life? I hope so.
Is it Disrespectful to Use Such Figurative Thinking?
It might seem irreverent to think of life as a game, but on the other hand, most of us take ourselves too seriously.
Most of us think to ourselves, “Why is God doing this to me?
Why is my husband doing this to me?
Why is it just my fate to be unhappy?”
And similar thoughts.
This metaphor helps our spiritual growth because it encourages us to take the perspective of,
“I wonder what I am supposed to learn from this?
How could I change my avatar and my results in this game?”
and so on.
As you may have already realized, changing our perspective changes our experience.
You could also consider that, if you’re happy with the level you’re on, you can just stay there for a while. But the game always has other levels to explore—whenever you are ready to go there.
So, this analogy helps to dissipate fear. There really is nothing to fear. We, that is, the spiritual self that is our true self, can never be hurt. We are eternal beings of light. This avatar we currently inhabit will one day pass away.
All of us know that. Yet we still fear it. We fear getting old, becoming feeble, death, and a hundred even more minor events.
When we perceive our true self, our immortal and invincible self, then all fear passes away.
Concluding Thoughts
I hope this metaphor is an inspiring and enlightening perspective in your own game of life, for your spiritual growth.
Oh and I have a spiritual gift for you, before I go! Here is an abridged version of my book, “The Band Director’s Lessons About Life”. You can download it right here.
God Bless You!
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