Some say it’s a game of luck and skill; somewhat like backgammon where the dice surprise you with their unpredictable roll and your skill is required to manage the situation to your best interest. Others say it’s a game of chess; where each move must be carefully planned in advance, considering all the possible moves the enemy might take. You can never be sure and it is usually a matter of interpretation but I choose to see life as a SUPER MARIO game.
You start with the basics such as, a life, and the ability to evolve in it. Time is constantly flowing, whether you’re moving or not. You start exploring the surroundings, sometimes jumping on the bricks and other times running under them. Soon, you meet living obstacles in disguised as turtles and if you are not prepared, or if you misinterpret their intentions to positive or friendly, you can find yourself severely damaged, or even dead.
During the journey, you learn to fight against the threatening obstacles, or you learn to avoid them. You look for empowering opportunities which help your growth; such as the famous mushrooms. If you are adventurous enough you might experience a trippy moment where you are undefeatable for a short term of time after jumping for a star. However, you must be prepared for the end of the empowering illusion as it happens suddenly; leaving you once again exposed to the dangers of the game.
Throughout, there are various paths you can choose; some hidden between the clouds, some in water, and some cynically under-ground. –Where you are depends on the choices you have made-. And the choices you have made depend on the reasons that attracted you to follow the chosen path. This could be economic where you focus on collecting the coins, it could be necessity for survival where you aim for the mushrooms and the firebombs or it could be plain desire to explore your surroundings before the journey ends. Whatever the reason, you must not get carried away. Time is running, sometimes faster than you.
Finally, the critical moment comes where you have travelled so far alone to face all your fears in the form of a dragon. The fear of inadequacy, the fear of failure and the fear of death await for your courage. If you are well prepared, you have the privilege of confidence. Nonetheless, you have no time for anything other than fight. You don’t even have the option to flight!
And there it is; the moment you either kill the dragon and meet your princess, or you let life flash before your eyes while you die.
