Living For The Process

The worst moment of playing a video game is finishing it. Through the whole game one is focused on winning rapidly but what one doesn’t understand is that the real objective of video games is to enjoy the process of playing it, the time you take to develop a perfect strategy. In a way, this is the same as living your life, the fun part of accomplishing goals in life is the process by which you created that perfect strategy that fits perfectly for your individual goal and makes enjoyable reaching that goal. There should come a moment in the living the process itself that the goal disappears because one is immersed in a complete harmonious present. “One who does what must be done without concern for the fruits is a man of renunciation and discipline.” (6, 1) A person who is not worrying of what the benefits are going to be but is focused on the process and that the process is completely balanced, is truly unique and transcendental.

Another bad part of playing video games is when you stand up after your playing session and you feel that you completely wasted your time. One then goes to the opposite extreme of not playing, but one doesn’t find a balance easily between these two positions, where you can enjoy the game but you don’t lose focus on the priorities of your life. “Gluttons have no discipline, nor the man who starves himself, nor he who sleeps excessively or suffers wakefulness.” (6, 16) If one is able to understand that there is a mid-point for everything and that all activities, be they necessities for our survival or our entertainment, even our helping our fellow human beings, any of these when done obsessively, without harmony, in total excess, they become a threat to ours and others lives and the beauty of living gets lost.

Sometimes one does things that seem to benefit us individually, but are immoral and wrong in a macro level, our community’s level. A basic principle of one’s limits is to act in a way, so people aren’t affected in a negative way and that brings benefits for our community as a whole. For most great accomplishments one has to sacrifice something and there is an innate tendency in this moment to consider if our sacrifice is worth what we will personally be getting when our goal is reached. One must strive to create a global consciousness, never forgetting our link to all. “Arjuna, he does not suffer doom in this world or the next; any man who acts with honor cannot go the wrong way my friend.” (6,40) Krishna’s idea of not having this question when acting with honor assures us that what is right for our community will ultimately be beneficial for us all.