A quote that came up in conversation last night has kept me thinking: “the game is only over when you say it is over.” I really enjoy this self-deterministic, somewhat naive perspective for approaching life.
It feels empowering.We make the rules. We shape the game. We decide when it ends. I love that because it feels like the ball is in our court.
Even if the world is not like that, and though it is important to acknowledge society’s inequalities and faults, what is the harm in actually, for a second, believing that we have the power?
If we have the power, we get to decide when to quit on things. We get to control what we work on, how long we work, and our decisions. If we subscribe to free-will, than we empower humans to make their own decisions.
Yet…sometimes we feel like we have no choice. We are bottle-necked into during certain things, for certain reasons. We feel like we have no other path but one.
The reality, though, and somewhat ironically, is never so absolute. We can fail. We can drop out. We can go bankrupt. We can default.
All of those things *could* happen and the world would certainly keep spinning.
Yet…sometimes we let the game determine our happiness. We let the state of the world determine our feelings. And, as I admit, it is important to recognize the macroeconomics of life, it is also critical to value the self.
We can quit whenever.
Most animals cannot.
I certainly have no intention “quitting” anytime soon, but at the minimum recognizing the option, though scary and perhaps something most people want to skirt around, is interesting.
I think more, though, about quitting on certain activities, friends, social norms, etc.
Also published on Medium.