I’ve been a gamer for as long as I can remember. I never saw this as any sort of problem, as was raised to put responsibilities first to make room for the fun later. Moved from home at 18 once I got a good job out of town. A year passes. Hm, I’ve not accomplished anything all year. No promotions, no school. Well I’m just 19, it’s not like I’m short on time.

A year passes.  Technically I got a promotion, albeit a half-step up. But that’s fine, I still have time. 6 months pass. Same place I’ve been the whole time, having only gained some weight and progressed down an emotional chasm. Why am I so upset? I have a good full-time job with benefits, I feel over-payed, no financial troubles, all the games I actually want to play. I’m an adult who’s teenage hopes for adulthood came to fruition, I’m preferring this situation over my grade school days. I couldn’t even pin an internal complaint to my emotional descent, which only seemed to accelerate things.

WAIT. Its been 2.5 years since I’ve moved out. I have everything going for me but I’m not really doing anything, moving anywhere. I’m not doing anything. Adulthood has been what I hoped it to be. I never really knew what I wanted to do career-wise, so my goals only subconsciously went as far as my passive teenage hopes. I’m 22 and I’ve achieved my more youthful goals already. This is it, I have no goals, no direction! I’m deeply rooted in the mediocrity of the comfort zone and haven’t had incentive to push the edges out.

By this point, I had already been romanticizing the idea of just leaving home, but doesn’t everybody? The grass may greener on the other side, but your internal problems obscure your vision too much to notice. Enter Sam, my brother. Long story short, I not-completely-jokingly mentioned my wanting to just wander and see things. He told me he could show me how. What. When? Let’s freakin’ do this. Just a couple days later he’s helping me sort out the basics of what to research and consider for the trip.

Which brings me to today. I’m a month into preparing, and the grass has never been greener. I’m still on the same side, to keep with the metaphor, but I’ve cleaned off my glasses. I have purpose, I have drive.

Everything is excellent.

Which brings me to the Walk for Healthy Gaming. I now know how not to take my situation for granted, I have things going well where not everyone does. Life dealt me a good hand, and I intend to lend that hand to those life hasn’t been as kind to. I’ve let gaming be a vice, now I will turn that around and use gaming to help those who don’t have the option to leave their hospitals. Gaming is an adventure I want to share, to improve the quality of life with where it had formerly hindered me. There are whole worlds painstakingly built from the ground up, and I want everyone to see them.

Don’t take it for granted like I did. Don’t be afraid to put yourself first sometimes, either. You need the energy, the health, the happiness. Then, when your glass is overflowing, you have a hearty abundance to share with the world, with those you love.

Be happy 🙂

 

My barebones route:

My whereabouts: