A Quote that sticks

Throughout my few years - I have read, heard, and seen (on kitchen walls) many quotes about life: “Live, laugh, love,” “Sing like no one is listening,” “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars,” or even:

As you can tell, I prefer some to others. Some I cast aside as cliché, and others I hold onto to walk through life with me—if not for their meaning but for what they mean to me the moment I encounter them.

One such quote that will forever be beside me is: Life is a mind game.

I first heard this from a friend of mine in high school. I can’t quite remember what brought this about, but whenever something bad happened - he would always say this. Girl broke up with him? Life is just a mind game. Failed the last math test? Life is just a mind game. Got absolutely steamrolled by a Pathfinder as the final 2 squads in Apex Legends? Life is just a mind game.

The older I get, the more I realize this is true.

Why is it that sometimes the people with nothing to their name are the happiest? Why can some people seemingly survive dramatic events when others can’t? Why are there people who have such drive and motivation to be great?

They haven’t figured out anything more than we have - they just know the mind game.

Sometimes, it’s all you need. All you need to keep going, to keep trying, to not take things too personally, and maybe even to be happy.

It can be easy to get caught up in everyone else’s troubles - especially in the first world. Even more so with the ever connected, social-media-filled-and-constant-comparative-life we have these days. But in the end, only you can determine what goes on in your mind.

Now, I’m not saying that if you adopt this mindset, life is always going to be amazing or that shitty things won’t happen because sometimes they do. Just like in any game, there are setbacks. Sometimes, the other team scores. Sometimes, you call Uno, and then every other player plops a +4 on you. Sometimes, you get absolutely cooked by someone older than your grandpa in pickleball (Not projecting, I promise). Sometimes, you encounter something that will change you forever, for good or bad.

But even in these moments, I think your mindset matters. What can I learn from this? How did this make me feel - so I never let anyone else feel this way. What can I do - so this never happens to anyone else again?

I’m not saying it’s easy. I’m not saying it’s something that will drastically make you a ‘better’ person. But if I can get one person to think differently about a situation or not give up even when things are tough - I think this was worth writing about.

Life is just a mind game, and when you realise that - life gets just a little bit clearer.

Thanks for reading - see you in 2 weeks.
- Max