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: Kind Hearted Memories

I'll be completely honest in saying that the post I was considering before this was intended to be a follow-up of my previous one, just that the more I kept thinking over it, and finding it just didn't seem to have the message I was intending, I've decided it needs more thought first.  Unlike this one, which I practically had the full idea for within a few hours of playing a demo for an upcoming remake last Thursday.

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX.  A remaster of PMD: Red/Blue Rescue Team.  And, man, the memories.  Some of you may not know this, but it was with those games that I first had a presence within any Pokemon communities online, on the old Nintendo forums, and thinking back on those memories, I felt like there may be some refreshing stories, and lessons, to tell.

One of the bonuses of the PMD games, and one that, while inaccessible in the demo, the menu shows is keeping true to the originals, was the ability to use passcodes given from person to person in order to rescue, or be rescued, in game by a fellow player.  I couldn't even tell you anymore how many I at least tried to help, as at the time there were more experienced rescuers.  But, one thing I recall very clearly, is the warming feeling of either typing or seeing those rescued codes with the tag "No reward necessary".  I think there was at least four or five of us that took on those missions just to help others have better experiences with the games, and it was a sense of community that so often gets overlooked anymore.

It's easy to fall into traps of discouragement.  Someone's first try in any competitive scene is often met with judgement of choice or being barraged with the supposed helpful tips or suggestions that forget to account for the lack of skill or knowledge one may have.  Some may even get discouraged at the losses themselves, not aware of the experience they are intended to gain.  Yet, with PMD, the scene was cooperative, with really the only competitive side being races to the bottom of the ninety-nine floor dungeons.  Hell, I even knew of some who used the rescuer system as a way to trade in-game items that were hard to find.

People get so wrapped up in competing with each other, even when there's nothing to compete over.  I feel it can almost be a detriment, forcing our own focus on one path and away from another.  But how to implement those more cooperative paths, that's the real trick of it all, and of course the solutions vary problem to problem.  But I feel the best place to start is in absence of the competition, perhaps in search of those who would honestly say "No reward necessary" to any help they can provide.

If any of you should find yourselves down on your luck on your own mystery dungeon adventures, Team FlameSquad is always ready to lend a hand, if able.

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

A Penny's Worth of Thoughts: The Negativity Stigma

Here's a thought stream that I've been finding myself in lately; so much so that I was actually intending on typing out this post last week, but found myself... I don't know how to describe it other than feeling that it needed more thought first.  Stigmas, negativity, and even the duo combined.  There's a lot that can be seen for both anywhere you look, whether it be an individual, or even a personal, view on nationalities, work, or even just seeing a certain state tag on the back of a vehicle who's driver probably needs to retake their driving test.  And, if you let it, such thoughts can consume one's mind completely, even if it's unintentional.

To that end, I've been thinking of a thought experiment that, if I'm completely honest, I don't even know for sure if it'll work as intended.  Think of the things in your life and split them: the good from the bad, positive and negative.  How many of you started with the negative side first?  Was it because you figured it would be easier to find the negatives?  Or simply because you felt there would be more on that side?  Before you scrap that thought though, try this: from the positive side, remove from the list the things that you could do without in a given day, even just for a moment.  And from the negative side, remove only the things that, if they just happened to not be there one day, your day would feel... off.  Did it balance out, or perhaps even find yourself on the flip side of what you originally thought: that you now have more positive than negative.

The point of the experiment is to try and show just how much more focus we can put on the negative in a given moment, to the point where we can overlook the positive that is right in front of us.  And sure, I could say to try and see more positive every day, but I think some would agree that after some amount of time, even with the intention of seeing the good, we feel ourselves drawn toward the bad.  Or perhaps, one particular bad just makes itself more difficult to ignore.

This is where I think some of the stigmas come in.  I'd almost say the saying of "waiting for the other foot to fall" is kind of a stigma itself, leading to a negative expectation.  It's as if that is our mind's default state, we see so much good, so we can't help but feel that something bad is just around the corner.  Sometimes, I think, the expectation almost wills it into existence even.  It's such a complex problem that I don't think there could be a catch all solution to it either.

It's reminiscent of the recent launch of Pokemon Sword and Shield even.  There were loads of stigmas spreading through members of the community, whether by malicious intent or misinformation, and yet, having gotten mine about month into the release, sure, I could see some of the points made.  But, in playing it, it still felt like a true Pokemon game to me.  And that's the point, right?  People saw the negative because they wanted it to be better, but what I think they didn't see just because something isn't better, doesn't necessarily mean that it's worse.

And perhaps that's the biggest stigma we get ourselves into.  The subconscious idea that if it's not better, than it has to be worse.  We get so caught up in trying to be better that staying the same feels like we are letting ourselves down instead of thinking the possibility that maybe, just maybe, at that point in time, the truly better thing is the stability of being the same.  So caught up with the idea of greater or more that we lose sight of the have enough.

The best I can offer in resolution is this: that list from earlier?  Take out the divides, maybe mix it up a little, then take a look at it.  Really think about it when you answer one question: does it still make sense?  Maybe just trade one or two things around?  Sometimes the positive, good things we see everyday can get misplaced until you view it from another angle.  And maybe, that new perspective you gain from that gives tell of your personal solution to the outcome.

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

August 13, 2011

It was good to see my uncle this morning and visit with family.  Helped a little on a front deck that my grandpa is building on my great grandpa's house.  I missed a few screws... but I swear they looked straight with the beam when I was putting them in.  My aunt and uncle from Oklahoma came up too, with one of my cousins.  Apparently he has glasses now.  I told him, "You know, you're suppose to move your eyes when your playing games right?"  Not that I can say much, myself, but I figured I'd give him a little bit of a hard time.  Also showed him a few tricks of mine in the Battle Factory on his Pokemon Platinum he brought.