When we were children, we loved playing games.
When we were children, we loved playing games.
Most of us, at least once in our lives, dreamed of having a toy castle, a toy car, or perhaps a teddy bear to create and act out stories of our own imagination. Each item had its own role and place in the story. When we finished playing, either because we lost interest or had something else to do, we put the toys away—or sometimes left them scattered—only to bring them out again later and invent new stories for the next round of play.
It’s likely that as adults, we never truly stop playing. We enjoy playing games. Every day, we engage in various situations, „play our roles,” step out of them, and start a new round. We shape the environment where the game unfolds and involve other players in our stories.
We play
because it distracts us from focusing on ourselves, on the importance of self-development, and on the reality around us. Yet, if we take a closer look at the castle, the car, or the teddy bear, we realize it’s still the same game, just with different settings and different characters.
Sometimes, the game we’re playing leaves us feeling uneasy. That’s when we recognize we’re not in control, and the rules we imagined don’t work. We’ve been mistaken—our ideas about the rules, our ability to control situations and people, and what safety means were all illusions. We must wake up to the fact that we are prisoners of our own illusions. These games work only briefly and fail to bring lasting joy.
It’s easier to follow familiar paths than to step out of our comfort zones and venture onto a new one. A path that might be challenging, and perhaps it’s just another game, but one that fosters growth. Learning doesn’t stop when we finish school. Knowledge grants freedom. Growth is a spiral that always leads us upward.
