The addictive game of Candy Crush, offering a lesson to this woman, translated…
As I was on the commute, everybody around me was always checking out FB, or playing an assortment of cell phone games. Once I saw an elderly woman who was playing too, I’d, looked closely, it was, Candy Crush! I’d smiled, hard to find someone who shared my same interests these days.
This game had, already, lost its popularity. But, I’d not deleted it, after all, it had, helped me through one of the hardest times of my life. Back then, I’d, taken on two jobs, not being used to ask help from others, I’d lived in anxiety night and day; and so, my husband had, installed Candy Crush for me, to divert my attention when I feel stressed, to stop my mind from wandering.
At first, I kept, getting stuck on the level, but, unwilling to admit defeat, I’d asked my friend about how to get through the levels. And, not knowing how or when, my feeling stressed out, was replaced by that need to get through the levels. I’m no longer, stuck, in my own anxiety anymore. Slowly, I’d, gotten the hang of how to master the levels, with the music that’s upbeat, it’d, encouraged me, and, my lost self-confidence, came back. In the hoorays I get from making it to another level, it’s, a way of de-pressurizing, and, a sort of self-affirmation.
As I’d fallen ill, Candy Crush became the reflections of my moods. Sometimes, I’d, gotten stuck on a level for a month, as I was, about to give up, then, I’d, gotten through, and my moods turned itself around. By the same beliefs, as I’d, gotten through level after level, after level, and, I’d, gotten stuck again.
like this??? Photo from online…
My body and mind got better, in the screams I’d let out from the games, the levels were too hard, but, I’d, eventually, passed, every single last one of them. From not having any passage before me, to walking toward that cliff, to passing through that winding pass, to finally, return, back to the easy-to-travel passes.
And now, I’d, still played the game, as I played, I’d felt, like it was, a metaphor of life.
And, I’d always, just focused on what’s, right before me, not seeing the big picture, and, I’d, gotten stuck. I’d not gone by a plan, just passed the levels, with pure dumb luck, or help from others, and, more often than not, when I got stuck, I’d, simply, casted the game aside, and stopped playing it. These obstacles are normal to me, because that is, how I’d, tackled life. Especially, I’m, without the patience, or the courage, to solve my own problems, believed, that not seeing, the problems simply, don’t exist. I’d laughed aloud, that every time there’s a bump in the road, I’d, taken this, approach of an ostrich, believed, that if I ignored the problem, then, it’d, eventually, go away, that somehow, someone will help, and save me, get me out!
level up!!! Photo from online…
Back then, had I face the pressures of work bravely—to work through each and every difficult that comes my way, then, maybe, they wouldn’t be, hard to conquer. And, the results from my dodging my problems, avoiding deal with them, caused me, to get very ill.
This kind of candy, is not sugar-coated poison, it’s, my best friend, and guide to life. I don’t need to ingest these “pills”, and, it’s, already, taught me a lot about life.
And so, who’d thought, that a cell phone game that was, so addictive, can help someone figure out her life? After all, she got stuck, and, started using the games as a distraction, then, as she got more and more into it, it’d, shown her the lights…