Life Is a Game—How Are You Showing Up to Play?

Ever notice how life can feel a lot like a video game? Twists, turns, unexpected villains, the occasional power-up… and sometimes, yes, you fall into the lava. Again. Whether you’re holding a controller or just trying to make it through the week, there’s a pattern that plays out: how you show up matters more than what’s actually happening.

Stick with me, because this isn’t about gaming — not really. It’s about how all human beings work. How the energy you bring into each moment impacts the game. Whether you're logging into your favorite app or walking into a meeting, you’re either playing from presence… or running from something. And spoiler alert: the game feels very different depending on which one you're doing.

So what if you could shift it — instantly? What if life (like your favorite game) was actually here to be enjoyed, not just endured?

Let’s press start.

First of all, gaming is play — just like life.
Second, we’re here to enjoy it — also just like life.
Third, how you show up determines everything about your experience… or rather, your interpretation of it.

For example, one might feel anxious and start gaming, or even scrolling social media with unconsciousness or with the thought that we are just trying to escape. Inevitably, we’ll have an experience that matches that mindset — and often, we won’t enjoy it, not really.

Just like life, when we’re feeling anxious in a low mood, things tend to align with that energy, and our experience reflects it. Our reality unfolds in alignment with that mood. The mood that started with a thought.

As one of my favorite teachers Mavis Karn said in her famous letter - “The only thing that can keep you from enjoying all that you already is a thought. One thought, your thought.”

But what if — what happens when — we show up to gaming (to life) as if we’re watching a movie filled with twists and turns? What if we expect to learn, to be entertained, and not to take it so seriously? And, of course, to fail, to fall down and eventually in most video games, yes, die. 

In my experience, when I show up like this, I enjoy life more. I have more fun. I feel more peace.

It’s really so simple — so simple that we often overlook this truth.

And by the way, the word gaming could easily be replaced with social media, work, relationships, parenting… or anything else in life.

See what happens when you approach the game with a thought and a feeling of play? What would your life be like?

And remember, it’s all a game!