Similar circumstances & taken a similar path. Embracing that I’m a gamer was a big help, I now tell people that as part of my identity. Selecting games carefu

Similar circumstances & taken a similar path. Embracing that I’m a gamer was a big help, I now tell people that as part of my identity. Selecting games carefully is a big deal. I have one competitive game: Legends of Runeterra. The rest are single player, co-op, or sandbox games like Minecraft. Playing with my SO is great, sometimes we game side by side in whatever game we want. It’s a feeling of closeness like reading together. I’ve been designing games since I was 8, but never made it a career. Gaming & what I’ve learned from designing them has served me very well. I also share the fears of OP. I often given entire weekends to gaming. I’m choosing to see those fears as an indication that I want experiences other than gaming, so now my SO & I go hiking every morning. One thing I know for sure, I don’t want to live a life “fighting addiction.” I’d rather embrace what works for me today, develop as a person, and see how I can diversify my experiences in a gentle way.