Frustration with Video Games

It's been a while since I wrote (sorry)

The last time I wrote, things had been looking pretty good. I flew for the first time, I was working out, etc. I'm still working out, but I do not like my new gyms cardio apparati (apparatuses?). I also have been failing to run. I played video games twice this past week. Additionally, I wasn't able to fly last Thursday because of the weather, and my flight lesson on Sunday was...frustrating.

The thing is...I KNOW that this is the beginning, and I KNOW that I'm not going to be good at anything I do - video games, running every day, flying. I've already noticed an improvement in my flying. I have not REALLY noticed an improvement in my video gaming skills. Running will have to be saved for another post later.

With flying, I'm aware that it is an exponential learning curve. I know that I'm at the very beginning of that curve. Same with video games. However, it's so frustrating to be at that place with TWO things that I'm trying to excel at. I know that practice makes perfect, and I'm trying to practice as much as I can.

Video Games. My incredibly wonderful friend CE who I've known for years was (and still is) a whiz at video games. He's been teaching me Grand Theft Auto and mostly Call of Duty. I love Grand Theft Auto because I can take my time, drive some fun cars, and do all sorts of stuff. I do NOT like Call of Duty for many reasons. First, when we play, we play with a split screen, so I can only see what's going on in my half. CE is phenomenal at gauging, anticipating, and striking. I'm awful. I want peripheral vision. I think that even if I had a whole screen view I would still suck. Call of Duty also has "enemies" coming at you whether you like it or not: Suicide Bombers, Terrorists, dogs, even helicopters. I know where to look to see where enemies are coming at me, but I still can't SEE them. Not to mention the movement. I need to run, duck, look in all directions, fire a gun....IT IS SERIOUSLY SO HARD!!!!

I can see how someone would get very attached to video games, and at the same time, I wonder about the people who do play a lot of video games. So much time and effort has to be put into even MOVING AROUND the right way. I just barely can move my character around and I've played for over 8 hours. People who have that kind of dedication and commitment to a TOY amaze me. And also make me wonder...If they weren't putting that focus into video games, what might they be doing instead? I feel like a lot of people who play these games for hours and days and months might have been phenomenal scientists, drone pilots, and general researchers. I mean, all I wanted to do was give up and throw the controller in the air at first. But I knew I had to persist so I did. I think a lot of my time here in Boston is going to be spent getting my hand eye coordination on a stellar level, and moving a joystick with finesse.

I know that I could have played Grand Theft Auto instead of Call of Duty, but I know that Call of Duty is going to help my joystick skills, hand eye coordination, and reaction time WAY more. So I chose to play Call of Duty. I first played it on Friday for about 5 hours. Then I played again on Saturday for 3 hours. That is still not enough time to even remotely do well. If he lets me, I need to make a set schedule and stick to it for video games with CE. *sigh* I AM super appreciative though that I not only have a place to play video games, but I have a phenomenal tutor as well. Hopefully within several weeks I will be a video game guru.

And this is the interesting part...after today, I've spent about 5 hours in plane. And I would venture to say that I feel more comfortable flying a plane than I do playing video games.

If any of you know a video game fanatic (especially Call of Duty) see if you can get them to change tack to something a bit more....productive. The world needs focused individuals.