Achieving Serenity

Pac-Man Maestro

I can't change my life until I change my daily routine

When Adam Watson was a baby, he would always cry intensely whenever you tried to take him onto the sand. His family would vacation to a beach house each summer, but it appeared there was something about the unknown sand that terrified baby Adam. His family members would often joke with him about this when he grew older, and he would laugh along as well at how silly it all was. What could possibly be scary about the sand?!

By the time he was thirty-six years old, Adam had taken the music industry by storm with his Grammy-award winning, soulful piano scores. He would sing his lyrics from his heart speaking of his long lonely adventure into stardom, filled with alcohol and drug abuse among many other hazardous vices.

Before he ever even knew he wanted to make music, he spent many years in jails and rehabs, desperate to find his life's calling. With the help of the Narcotics Anonymous program, Adam found a way to success and serenity. It all began at a church when Adam noticed a piano propped up as he eyed it throughout the entirety of the NA meeting. At the end of the hour, he began playing songs for his surprised fellows, as they had no idea of Adam's hidden talent. This spark created the maestro we know today, giving him a clear vision of his talented contribution to society.

Adam first discovered he had a passion for music when he was watching a video of a man playing the Mario theme song blindfolded. The inspired Adam thought this was amazing, but when he actually tried to learn songs on the family's piano, he decided it must surely be too impossible for him. There were so many keys, and so many different notes to remember.

Ever since he was a child, Adam feared the real world and would often escape by any means necessary. He grew up in the age of iPhones and video games, and his electronic devices became his personal safe haven. He didn't have any close friends at school, hating every minute of it there, fantasizing about the sweet ring of the final bell that indicated his pathway to peace- to his precious video games- had been unlocked.

Adam was twelve and spent a lot of time playing the game Cravence II on his outdated Nintendo device. His parents were happy that he wasn't out doing drugs or committing crimes, so they didn't think anything of his undeniable attraction to the video games. His four other siblings started to give up on attempting to connect with him emotionally, as he seemed to be only happy when he was with his Nintendo.

It was 2:09 am on his bedside alarm clock and Adam, on the verge of a nervous breakdown, realized he had been playing for almost six hours straight. He was working on the same challenge for the past four hours and still seemed to be making no progress on it. Adam started to actually feel like he sucked as a person- it surely must be so if he wasn't able to complete this challenge after this many trials. He would start the challenge with clenched teeth, only to have his character die a few minutes later followed by expletive outbursts from Adam.

"This shit is impossible!" Adam emoted in a soft yet forceful tone, considering his sleeping family members. He had to urinate so badly but was determined to only take that pee knowing he finally beat this stupid game.

Eventually, his bladder won the emotional battle he was in, and upon his character's 500th death he quickly shut off the game system and stomped toward his bathroom at 2:46 am. He went to sleep angrily, cursing his incompetence.

The next morning he woke up and continued to play the game, day in and day out but avoiding that challenge completely. He deemed it impossible and was no longer going to chase that dragon. However, years passed and Adam noticed something interesting. He was undoubtedly more skilled at the game due to his hours on end of practice. Adam was playing Cravence II one night when he nonchalantly selected the challenge that defeated him years ago. Upon his first try, Adam successfully beat it.

Seeing with his own eyes the true value of regular practice, Adam decides he wants to become the greatest Cravence player in the world. It was the holiday season and he was excited for the upcoming release of Cravence III and wanted to practice as much as he possibly could on the current version so he could play the new one as a seasoned pro.

The only problem was the new game was being released on the latest Nintendo device, which Adam did not own and it appeared his parents weren't willing to get him for Christmas. He decided that he is fine with getting the PC version of the game so he could at least play on the home computer. When Christmas morning came, he opened up the small box to reveal the beautiful logo and artwork of the newest game he's been waiting on.

The day he installed Cravence III had Adam losing control the same way he had on that dreaded challenge months ago. Not because he was losing; he would've killed to be able to even play. The game was installed on the computer correctly, but every time he went to launch it, the game would crash and he wasn't able to even get past the initial loading screen. He searched the internet for people with similar problems and found an online thread that outraged young Adam.

Apparently, there were hundreds of people with the same crashing error, but the game developers were merely doing nothing about it. The game was working fine for thousands of others, and they were probably too busy working on Cravence IV to even care. The thread consisted of a transcript between a gamer and their conversation with the game developer's support team. There was one company that was publishing the game, and one company that built the game. Both companies were directing their unsatisfied customers to the other, making it clear that no refunds will be offered.

As he was browsing through various YouTube videos, Adam decides it would be pointless to even escalate this problem to his parents. He didn't need his mother angry that she wasted money, and it seemed abundantly clear that all Cravence III had in store for him was more stress. In the related videos section on YouTube, Adam sees the same video he watched several years ago of the blindfolded piano player. He instinctively clicks it, and once again, Adam is intrigued and visualizes himself performing this song blindfolded for people he knows. The music sounds so beautiful and perfect; whatever this man had, Adam wanted.

He thought about the video game challenge, and how he was convinced that it couldn't be completed. It was too impossible, and then one day it was easy. If he put in the time that he spent playing Cravence practicing the piano, how talented could he become?

Adam continues to try to play Cravence III, but even after new updates are released, the game continues to crash. He grows uninterested in Cravence II because of the odd sensation of playing the old version that didn't quite satisfy him. It was like watching a rerun of a football game; there's an undeniable thrill in a live experience, merely being in on whatever is current. Adam decides to boycott Cravence for stealing money from his mother. With his newfound extracurricular time, Adam works hard to become as talented as the blindfolded pianist.

After he became rich and successful, Adam reminisces about how he once had the plan the write hate mail to the developers of Cravence. He decides today that he does want to write them a letter, however with a different tone. Adam wants to thank the company for inadvertently helping him destroy his video game addiction. Cravence was the only video game he liked, as any other game had him just wishing he was playing Cravence. After he found out the latest game wouldn't work on the computer, he dropped his video game addiction as his means for escapism without even realizing it.

Adam wasn't able to change his life until he was able to change his daily routine. Though he had many more trials and tribulations awaiting him- by quitting video games and entering into the real world, Adam was able to take his first steps into the sand.