You may have figured out from previous blog enteries that I am not much of the gamer. More nerdish. But there’s a whole lot of wisdom I can draw from the multiplayer game, Call of Duty that can be applied to all spheres of my life, spiritual, academic, professional etc.

I started among the lowest ranks in the ‘war’. This comes with lots of disadvantages. Everybody else had better weapons, stronger bullet impact, better agility, increased perk options and many others. I was never on the better end of a confrontation. My opponents wasted me consistently and I almost always lost the game. But in my defeat, something was happening that I had not taking note of, I was changing.

Lesson 1 was persistence even in defeat. I lost many, if not all the battles in the beginning, but I’ll still be able to garner some points, however little. So while my dead bodies littered the game arena, I was actually making little progress towards a promotion. Sure, a game of 15 points when I needed 4000 was insignificant, but 10 such games was good progress. Slowly, I started moving up the ranks, even in defeat. Today I realised that I am a General, waiting for a promotion to a Commander. This reminds me of many periods when I’m trying to learn something and leave the library frustrated, but still come back the next day to try again. With every try, the puzzle gets a little clearer and eventually I’ll get the full picture. Sometimes, I still don’t get it, but I have looked at it so many times, researched and thought about it a lot, that I can still deliver it in exam situations. Also brings to mind when I was trying to write out my MSc research project. Getting the needed information, interpreting it based on my work, putting it down without plagiarizing was definitely not a one day or one week effort. It was slow and often tedious, but eventually, I won a School award for it. Also, just went through the same process preparing a manuscript for what will be my first journal paper. Now, that paper was accepted for publication in the August issue of the World Journal of Pharmaceutical and Medical Research. I have to remind myself everyday of this: Persistence is Key!

Lesson 2: Disappointments and failures don’t last forever. Now as a General, I am a stronger, more agile fighter. I have access to a range of weapons and perks. I have suffered many disappointments in life, and times where I’ve failed God and myself. In the game, when I am killed, I am respawned and can carry on. Usually, I would have lost something but not a total loss. In life, I see this as grace being infused in me. Like, you’ve missed it, but get back up, you haven’t lost everything. You can do this again. One more try.

Lesson 3: Acquire wisdom from defeat. I’ve been killed in cringe-worthy ways. Humiliatingly. But after sometime, I realise that this Colonel is waiting for me by that corner I never check. I know well enough to avoid using a particular road cos there may be a mine planted for me. I have made mistakes in life, and some are frankly cases of wisdom versus folly. From experience, I already know things that will trigger me to fall, to fail. To behave in ways I wouldn’t be proud of when the moment has passed. It will be foolish of me to deliberately put myself in situations that I know I am likely to fall, or have fallen before. You want to quit eating chocolate, You got to stop taking relaxation breaks outside of the Chocolate Factory, right?..