Cultivating a Resilient and Optimistic Inner Self
In truth, the moment you begin to view life as a game is the moment you start becoming a person of immense inner strength. When confronting difficulties and challenges, what we often lack is not a serious attitude, but the spirit to gamble boldly.
Whenever I feel anxious, compare myself to others, succumb to self-blame, wallow in pain or insecurity, harbor discontent with reality, or when I place excessive importance on a single matter or person, I always tell myself this:
"Life is, in fact, a game. Once I truly grasped this, I began to understand that I shouldn't assign undue significance to the minor emotional fluctuations and small setbacks along the journey, even if they feel utterly devastating in the moment."
For instance, recent professional setbacks—creative block, falling behind schedule, immense psychological pressure. Or relationship troubles, an irregular lifestyle leading to weight gain, and sometimes sleep deprivation leaving me feeling utterly drained.
In the immediate present, these issues feel substantial enough to warrant self-recrimination and distress, painting the future a bleak grey and filling me with immense resentment and dissatisfaction towards life. Yet, upon calm reflection, I recognize that these transient emotions and pains are adjustable; they are merely slightly bitter seasonings in the feast of life.
The Game of Life: Understanding Your Role
We become too engrossed in our own roles, forgetting that life is ultimately a game. There are no absolute winners or losers, no inherent superiority or inferiority. Everyone's game will eventually conclude, and at that endpoint, no one truly cares how many virtual houses you acquired, what cars you bought, or whether you were a millionaire or a pauper within the game.
The crucial thing, at the end, is your own personal feeling, your self-assessment. This is what matters most. Even if everyone else admires your in-game character and equipment, if you alone believe you played a poor game, then undoubtedly, you have failed.
"All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players."
- William Shakespeare
Indeed, life is a game. When you start thinking this way, you can cultivate an excellent mindset and a powerful inner core. Because you know that no matter what happens, the sky won't fall.
Understanding the Two Types of Pain
So-called pain and adversity essentially fall into two categories:
One is temporary emotion; the other is genuine, profound pain.
However, about 95% of life's pains—the things that trouble you daily—are merely transient displeasures, emotions that can be easily overcome.
But there is another kind: genuine pain. When facing true pain, you need to adopt the posture of a player in a game: slaying gods when you meet them, cutting down demons when they come. Face every challenge in life fearlessly. Because you understand that by conquering the things that cause you genuine pain, you will be reborn, becoming a stronger version of yourself—just like leveling up by defeating monsters in a game.
"Your most painful moments are often precisely when you are about to 'level up.'"
Playing Your Own Game
Each of us holds our own character and equipment. The configuration and personality you receive are your inherent 'mandate,' something unchangeable. You cannot play your own game while gazing at someone else's seemingly more exciting game and wish to swap roles; it's impossible.
For me, my goal in playing this game is clear: to fully enjoy the process, to grant myself the agency within this game to choose the equipment I like, select the opponents I wish to challenge, continuously self-upgrade, and ultimately be capable of taking on the final boss.
However, during this process, I've come to understand a crucial point: whether I ultimately get to face the final boss, how much equipment I acquire along the way, or how many opponents I defeat—while important—are not the absolute most critical things.
So, what is the most important?
It is my own inner feeling, my final self-evaluation. If I approve of all the choices I made in this game, believe I exercised my subjective initiative, exerted my best effort, realized my potential, and demonstrated my value, then regardless of whether I faced the final boss or not, I am undoubtedly successful.
The Power of Self-Approval
Because I endorse my choices, I have no regrets, and I feel the game was worthwhile, a journey not taken in vain. This, in itself, is the best outcome, utterly unrelated to whether I defeated the final boss.
Therefore, I've come to understand that life is a game where the result isn't overly important, but self-perception and self-evaluation are critically important.
However, to attain this ultimate self-approval, you must possess the ability to choose autonomously (will imposed by others does not constitute your autonomous choice, as you will ultimately regret not following your own heart). You must be sufficiently diligent; you must persevere; you must be able to endure pain; you must possess adequate wisdom.
"Most importantly, you must satisfy yourself, not others."
Five Transformative Realizations
When I finally see life as a game, I won't overemphasize temporary wins or losses, because I understand they are ultimately inconsequential.
When I finally see life as a game, I will fight, slay enemies, and level up with all my might, because I understand the most important thing lies not in the result, but within myself.
When I finally see life as a game, I will fear no surrounding voices of negation, because I understand the recognition I need most comes from deep within myself.
When I finally see life as a game, I become diligent, steadfast, and serene, because I understand I don't need others' approval; I only need my own affirmation.
When I finally see life as a game, I begin to become immensely resilient and supremely optimistic, because I understand what I truly want.
The Wisdom of Resilience and Optimism
While reading the biography Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future, I came across a sentence that left a deep impression on me:
"No man is an island, unless he is resilient and supremely optimistic."
I love this line, not because I wish to become an island, but because resilience and supreme optimism are the qualities I most admire.
I also recall another quote I greatly favor:
"As long as you do not depend upon others, no one can let you down."
When I am provoked by an unpleasant event or person, when I blame others or my environment, feeling that someone has hurt my feelings, I silently repeat this phrase. Miraculously, as I repeat this, my inner anger and pain gradually subside.
The Mindset That Determines Happiness
Once the disappointment completely settles, and I begin to re-examine the situation with a positive mindset, I realize that the most important thing isn't what you encounter in reality, but the mindset with which you view events, which determines your level of happiness in life.
A person with a resilient heart, even when faced with terrible blows, will treat them with an optimistic and positive attitude. Such a person can view failures, which others find unacceptable, as opportunities for growth and motivation, learning sufficient lessons from them, constantly improving themselves, and thus becoming a stronger self.
A person with a weak heart, even if blessed with unexpected fortune, cannot truly enjoy it. They fear the luck will vanish in an instant, becoming apprehensive and living in constant anxiety.
A resilient person does not overly care about others' evaluations; they follow their inner guidance to fulfill their own aspirations. A weak-willed person only submits to the will of others, chasing external validation, only to discover in the end that they have been pursuing what others told them to, forgetting what they themselves truly wanted.
"It turns out, one's attitude towards the world is more important than what the world itself is like."
How to Become Resilient and Optimistic
So, how exactly can one become a person with a resilient and optimistic inner self?
Simply view life as a game. Don't be too serious.
In doing so, you will find more courage to attempt the things you've long desired but feared to do. You will be less terrified of facing an unfavorable outcome, because you know that no one else can ultimately judge your life—only you can.
Too many people take the minor wins and losses in life too seriously. A single failed exam or a missed promotion can darken their entire world, causing them to lose the inherent joy and meaning of life.
Too many people fail to bring the all-out, fearless, monster-slaying, leveling-up spirit of gaming to face life's challenges.
Yet, when a person finally learns to see an overly serious life as a game, then wanting to become resilient and supremely optimistic might not be as difficult as imagined. On the contrary, it becomes a rather simple matter.
Conclusion: Your Journey to Inner Strength
The path to resilience and optimism begins with a simple shift in perspective: viewing life as a game rather than a series of serious, life-or-death situations. This mindset allows you to approach challenges with courage, learn from setbacks without being crushed by them, and ultimately find joy in the process of growth itself.
Remember, the most important approval you'll ever receive is your own. When you learn to satisfy yourself rather than others, when you embrace the game-like nature of life, you unlock a level of inner strength and optimism that can carry you through any challenge.
"As long as you do not depend upon others, no one can let you down."
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