I once had the attitude that life was nothing more than a game.

Every part of it could be gamified and the whole point was to get enough points before going onto the next level. This thinking was largely influenced by many years of my own video gaming addiction, even when I refused to see the connection.

The problem was there was no next level.

The people you dealt with on a daily basis were real people and the consequences of your actions were permanent. There is no do-over to start the level again until you get better results.

Yes, there is opportunity for forgiveness, starting anew and attempting to better yourself, but there is a price to pay for all of those. It took me many years to realize I had a huge bill to pay and little in my account to do so.

A game is also something you can stop playing. At any point, if the game stops being fun, you can take a break.

Life doesn’t allow you to stop playing.

When you stop having fun, it gets too tough, or if you lose, you have to keep going. There are no extra lives.

You can have fun and you can play (and playing is crucial to our health and the central theme of my Masters research), but making it a game will only break reality for yourself.

And when reality breaks, it’s tough work to pick up the pieces.