Hi I’m Ryan (the hubby). Just a little about me, I work as a computer scientist. I like video games, cosplay, and a hundred other things that I can’t commit fully too (Electrical engineering, learning Mandarin Chinese, music theory, etc.).
On the more spiritual side of things, I’m a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I served as a missionary for my church for two years in the southern United States. I spent most of my time in rural Georgia and Dothan, Alabama. My mission taught me a lot of things, one of which I’d like to focus on. That is the idea that spiritual truths can be found and learned anywhere. I believe there are life changing truths we can learn from any church, any philosophy, and even video games!
One such lesson I’ve learned recently comes from a surprising source, Dark Souls. Dark Souls is a game that has a bit of a reputation for being very difficult. You typically play as a knight or sorcerer and the game centers around making it from one checkpoint to the next defeating the enemies along the way, sounds fairly typical right? Well get familiar with this screen.
As you defeat enemies you gain souls which acts as a type of currency in the game. When you die you lose all of it. If you can make it back to the place you died to can get it back but die again and it’s just gone.
As a rule I struggle with perseverance, especially when things get hard. As mentioned before I have a lot of interests and I tend to pick them up with a lot of enthusiasm. Unfortunately I also tend to quickly move on when I hit that first wall that comes with learning something new.
I went into Dark Souls knowing it would be hard and so I prepped myself by repeating over and over “don’t get mad, dying is an intentional part of the game”. I did die many, many times but through it all I kept the attitude that it was just part of the experience.
Eventually I had a breakthrough with the game and I was able to get past the boss that was giving me trouble. I felt the amazing rush of accomplishing something that had seemed impossible before. The rest of the game slowly started to come easier and easier, until finally I defeated the final boss. This breakthrough wasn’t just a breakthrough in the game, it was a breakthrough in my life.
Turns out accepting mistakes in life as “part of the game” does a great deal to help us to actually improve. Often we can get discouraged by what we perceive as big set backs but what if those set backs aren’t actually set backs at all? If we learned, if we kept going, didn’t we come out of the experience ahead? Whatever we lost we can get back, wherever we were we can get there again.
Through Jesus Christ all of our shortcomings, all of the negativity in our lives, all of the weaknesses we have can be turned for our Good. Mistakes are part of the game. Praise The Son
The Author Mommy 