I've kept this a secret. Until now.

I’m about to share a deep secret. 

I’ve tucked this thing away for a long time and have worked hard to keep it hidden. I haven’t talked about it and when anything related to this pops up, I’ll beat it back down like I’m playing Whac-A-Mole. 

I don’t enter into conversations on the topic and have gone to great lengths to protect this thing. So much so, I’ve even turned away good opportunities because of this. I’ve chosen to give up fun, camaraderie, and friendship.

When hearing the numerous stories that others tell, I put my sense of adventure on hold long enough so that I can escape having to venture into this thing. While I genuinely believe that it might be worth it, I just can’t seem to bring myself to jump in. 

All because I’m afraid.

I’m afraid that I won’t be good enough. I’m afraid that I won’t be able to contribute. I’m afraid that it will take too long to figure it out. I’m afraid that I’ll embarrass myself. And, I’m afraid that I’ll drag others down.

Those are legit fears, right? Aren’t they worth protecting?

See, what I’ve been keeping secret for so long is this: I don’t play multiplayer games because I’m afraid that I’m not good enough. That I won’t contribute enough. That the other players’ backs will hurt from carrying me. 

Who in their right mind wants to be responsible for other’s chronic back pain? Not me, I tell ya. 🙅

And all of that in-game reviving, resurrecting, and rebooting of my character has got to be draining on the other players, right? Why in the world would they want dead weight on their team? 😉(See what I did there?)

So, by default, I isolate myself.

I miss out on the connection with others. And when I pause long enough to reflect, I realize that this is much bigger than me and my fear of being a burden to my friends dk8859 and KDiehl in the game Deep Rock Galactic.

In fact, it’s huge.

Generally speaking, as a culture, we don’t borrow stuff anymore. We stopped asking for help. We don’t have meaningful conversations with our neighbors like Tim “The Tool Man” Taylor has with Wilson.

We use Uber to go to the airport and we use Instacart to get the sugar and eggs to finish baking that apple pie. We have stopped asking for help to move on Saturday because we don’t want to be a bother or be a burden.

And in all of that, we are stealing from our friends and neighbors.

We rob them of the opportunity to be a blessing. We take away the feeling of being needed or wanted. We yank from them the gift of helping and assisting.

We have disconnected and we need to choose to reconnect.

To reconnect and to remove the isolation that is so prevalent, we need to intentionally find ways to connect. We need to seek opportunities where we can insert ourselves into the lives of others.

What could that look like? 

Could that be asking how someone is doing, actually listening to the answer, and then asking a follow up question? Could that be remembering small but important things like birthdays, favorite colors, and personal interests? Might it even be giving generously of our time?

Or maybe, just maybe, learning to play an online multiplayer game just to make a connection with others? (Ouch. That one hurt. 🤕)

Of course we’ll mess up. We’ll get distracted. We’ll forget. We’ll get too busy. We’ll get scared.

But if we begin to see others as our emergency fund for life, we’ll keep at it. We’ll get better at connecting little by little. And then one day, it could very well be us carrying our friend’s Reboot Card to the Reboot Van!

And **poof** just like that, the chronic back pain is gone.

Make the connection:

• What are some of the ways we can reconnect with neighbors and friends to remove isolation and begin to choose connection?

We are #ForTheGamer and help players play with purpose and win for good.