A Penny's Worth of Thoughts: Challenging One's Self

Here's an interesting thought: Why do some people make things harder on themselves?  Sure, some will say it's for the thrill of the challenge, but it's also possible to go so far that you give up because it becomes too hard.  You may think there's a fine line between the two, only to be surprised at just how much grey area there is between them.

Consider the last time you asked yourself how much more you could take or even simply stated that you couldn't anymore.  Did it continue or stop?  What motivated you one way or the other?  Was that motivation worth it in the end?  Simple questions to ask, much harder to answer, wouldn't you agree?  Perhaps it was a time you told yourself "Never again" only to do it once more without realizing it.

It can also be humbling, thinking on past goals that were never attained for one reason or another.  The challenges within challenges we've set for ourselves over the years.  At what point was that one criteria, that one extra challenge too much?  And yet the progress we had made, perhaps been blind to in some circumstances, meant little if we couldn't answer that challenge.

This one I have personal experience with.  For most of this past year, I had attained a Pokemon Organizer Basic license, which basically allowed me the ability to host officially sanctioned Pokemon tournaments.  Anyone who knows me could tell you that this was a big deal for me, yet for the entire year I had it, I never once used it.  I thought about it, sure, who wouldn't, but no plans ever came to fruition.

It wasn't that I thought I'd be a bad host.  I've helped many people learn the game over the years, whether it be the TCG or the video games, though it may have required a different approach, as I've usually not been one to force people to play the standard format.  No, the thought that bugged me was the hot shot challenger, the eventuality that someone who cares more about winning and losing than I do would come to one of my events, and within the span of one game try to convince everyone that following me could be hindering them.  Because to me, the game has never been about wins or losses, but bringing groups of friends together, occasionally bull-shitting each other along the way.

Sure, it's hard to argue that it'd be nice one day to go to a Pokemon World Championship event just to say I went.  But to actually be able to compete at that level?  I don't think I'm anywhere close to the experience some of those players bring to the table, honestly because I don't think I could bring myself to care so much about the wins and losses.  Every game has a lesson to learn, especially when helping others learn it.  Sometimes it can mean holding of on your combo long enough to gauge someone's true strength and skill.  To help them see their own value.  The hardest skill to master can be how to lose a winning game.

Just a penny's worth of thoughts, for those motivated to read them.

A Penny's Worth of Thoughts: Unto the Breach

Let me start off by saying that no matter how I've thought about this, there has always been bits that part of my thoughts go, "Yep, that's going to upset some people."  I even thought about not giving my own personal thoughts on these controversial divides the "Penny's Worth of Thoughts" tag, as I have tried to keep it as much of a neutral ground as I could.  But, that reasoning also doubles back on me: I like the neutral ground as a way of offering communication with a variety of different perspectives, yet how can I truly claim that if I'm fearful of bringing my own to the table.  So, I sit here ready to type in hopes that I can show some faith in my own neutral ground, and maybe a bit of perspective of what I keep to myself as I continue on with this series.

Let's start with what could very well be the big thing of this entire post: Yes, I support President Trump.  Yes, I know that he has rubbed people the wrong way, and in that regard, I can agree that there could perhaps be more tact in some of what he says or does.  However, I think his approach to the president's seat with the business mindset has had some positives in one way or another.  I also realize that not everyone has had the same experiences.  Truth be told, there are probably a few things I'm not aware of, both on the positive and negative sides, as politics is not something I stray into, sometimes even actively avoiding--and as an aside, I've sat rereading just what I had up to this point, not to figure out what to add, but thinking of all the potential comments punching holes into just this one paragraph, for more than a few minutes now.  Believe me, you all would have great questions and statements that I have no answers for.  I even just typed this much just to appease my neutral mentality, further raising my own self-doubts on the rest of this post.

Shifting on, before I reread for the tenth time, as I'm already starting to come to the conclusion that I suck at picking sides.  The next main one involves religion, as you'd be surprised how frequently I get asked of my faith.  My response is usually, as is my trend, of my neutral stance, but I'd like to take this to elaborate.  The closest identifier I've ever come across is the one of agnostic, being someone who believes what I can prove, though it's less in the regard of being unable to prove any deity, and more in the line of, with our current understandings, such proof is beyond our grasp.  I grew up Methodist Christian, which is where some of my mannerisms stem from.  My neutral stance came about with the simple realization that many religious stories have more similarities than most realize, just told from a different perspective from one another, making it difficult for me to wholly agree or disagree with any.

With the two major ones out of the way--and yes, I know there's probably just as many holes in my religious view as my political--most of the rest are either less controversial, or at the very least, less mentioned.  Starting with the one my recently abuzz with the recent Super Bowl: No, I do not have a sports team I root for.  You'd have better odds of finding a legit 6IV, choice natured Shiny Pokemon with no masuda, charm, chain, or IV breeding than to find me rooting for a sports team--and for those not fluent in Pokemon nerd: one in a million has better odds than what I just described.  LGTBQ group, or non-binary, which ever you guys are going by these days, I'll just start by saying that in my reasoning, male and female are done deal as far as genders, as far as sexuality, you guys do you, just leave me out of it.

I think that's just about it.  I'm sure I've probably got a half dozen or more talks or comments coming my way, so it's probably time to retreat into my Yoshi Egg after posting this.  I will say actually typing it out was much shorter than my thoughts had me expecting it to be... though some chunks probably got cut as I started.  Hell, even getting this far, I'm still tempted to hit that X in the corner, stop myself from following Pandora's path.  And yes, I know, I really am bad at picking sides, but a neutral zone has to be open to all sides, even it's own.

Just a penny's worth of thoughts, for those who don't hate me for reading them.