A convicting moment as a wargamer.
I was sitting in a Bible study class and we were discussing the Sabbath, its history, context in both Old and New Testament and what it meant, what we should use it for and most importantly how to nudge ourselves into good habits of honouring the Sabbath.
There was a quote from an author that was used to help us put some context around how we use our time and how we make excuses to be ‘busy’
The author in their intro said:
“…It is a fallacy to think that one just needs more time. Unless a deeper solution is found,
“more time” will just fill up in the same way as the time we already have.
The way to liberation and rest lies through a decision and a practice.”
Dallas Willard, the foreword to Invitation to Solitude and Silence.
This immediately made me think of us as gamers.
Many of us say something similar. “When I retire, if I only had more time, if my partner or my child or my other hobby or my job only gave me more time….. I could play all those games. ”
Is it not also a truth that when we do retire we seem to magically fill that time with the non relevant the unimportant and ouw games gather dust!
Thus my friends the answer is given above – Decision and Practice!
So what might that look like?
- Discipline. One way to nudge ourselves in the right direction is by shaping our space and structuring our time. Literally create a physical space for gaming., make it visually accessible, not hidden away. Add time to your calendar or shared calendars.
- Prioritize something related every day. Try starting with One hour a day. Then One day a week and maybe even build up to one week a year [ a con perhaps!]
- I suspect a big part of our lack of time is our attitude. Be thankful for all those titles, books, rules, maps and charts and give them some attention when relaxing and developing an attitude of “I will roll dice on this board”.
- Community. Get one, find one, start one. Get engaged with people, reach out online in person in store. WE are blessed that the 2020 period showed us we can connect in many ways digitally as gamers. Find the tools and use them!
- Put in the effort. Really. Just get your backside up, put the phone or the remote down and set up a game. Persevere.
- The more we read about our hobby, watch, and talk about it the it gets our juices following to #rolldice !
Now those 6 steps and a few others are adaptations from the lessons on how to honor the Sabbath as well….So if any one wants the class notes, I can share them.
But today & Tomorrow – get started engaging more with your hobby if you feel that you are not playing as much as you would like or ‘just need more time’
I’ve never seen church, the Bible, and the Old and New Testament invoked in a wargame post. Beautiful! Thank you. (p.s. I was just listening to Bach’s “O Sacred Head Now Wounded” on YouTube, because I hadn’t heard it in ages. Check it out. Your post was a benediction.)
Glad you enjoyed it.
In fact A lot of my musing posts are usually in some way shape or form derived from some insight driven by a slap up side of the head by a preacher! 😉
and I shall check out the music.
Very nice and human post and it appplies to wargaming… and many other aspects of life!
In my case, it’s not a lack of time, but energy. I am so tired when I finish work that I find it difficult to invest energy in thinking how to outlflank those divisions.
However, when I manage to kick myself into action, the energy starts flowing back. So, it’s a matter of overcoming the “activation energy” of this wargaming reaction.
Like you say, structure helps a lot. I will take that advice!
Thanks for reading. It has universal applicability for sure.