Not sure how many folks here remember the game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas on the 1st xbox, but I was at the time, seriously addicted to the game back in coll

Not sure how many folks here remember the game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas on the 1st xbox, but I was at the time, seriously addicted to the game back in college. Part of the fun is that your reputation and actions have a physical effect on the character you are playing - you can go to the gym (in the game) and bulk up your appearance. Pretty cool how they gamified something that is so boring in real life. Then I had an epiphany. What if all the effort and time I put in the game, I actually put towards my actual life? In a way, gamifying my own life for the benefit for my life instead of a video game character? I spent a lot more time doing physical activities than playing video games since. So I love this idea of treating life as if it is a game. Best epiphany ever. Another thing that I do - pretend like I observe my life in 3rd person like how I observed the character in the game. Like I have camera over my shoulder while I am doin an incline bench press. It's hard to explain, but dissociating with myself puts me in a zen-like state. It also helps if I am upset and need a moment to cool off. Its a lot easier to disconnect from your ego when you disconnect from it like you are controlling it through an xbox controller.