The Game of LIFE (on Life Points)

My brother Brayden got the game "LIFE Twists and Turns" for Christmas. It's a version of life with an electronic device that keeps track of your salary, cars, houses, kids, wife, etc. You move through a board divided in four sections: Learn It! Earn It! Love It! and Live It! The object of the game is to WIN IT, obviously (Cambry quote! haha love ya :D). The unique thing about the game is that it all comes down to Life Points.

In the game, you earn life points by making bucketloads of money, reaching major milestones (college degree, marriage, travel, etc.) and also by experiences on LIFE cards. Experiences coincide with which section of the board you are in, and can give or take money or life points. Things like "Adopt a Koala Bear" and "You finally master patting your head while rubbing your tummy" can give you life points. But then there are things like, "Get stung by a jellyfish while swimming in the East Australian Current" and "Fall off the t-bar while skiing and roll all the way down the mountain" subtract your life points.

The theme here is obviously, "Positive life events give you life points. Negative ones subtract." But I got to thinking, in real life, why would a negative event detract from the value of the life you've lived? Why would not getting one job you applied for make your life a failure? How does passing out in biology class during a dissection make your life less worthwhile? It doesn't make sense in my mind! I think those things should add life points, not subtract them, because aren't they giving you a story to tell? Aren't they adding to your personal stream of life bloopers you're going to get to watch in heaven? Aren't all experiences teaching you and helping you grow, adding to the value of your life?

Sometimes we think the same the way the game does. When something negative happens, we automatically think that our lives lose meaning. So to an A student, failing a test is like the end of the world. Losing a friend makes you a horrible person. Crashing your car grinds your confidence to dust. But why let these things break you? Why not make everything that happens in your life a positive experience instead of a negative one?

So a family member dies, your computer crashes, you don't get a scholarship, your break your arm--any number of negative things can happen to a person in his or her lifetime. But I believe that every and any experience can be a positive thing in the long run. Even for the very worst of sinners--except perhaps ones who've committed the one absolutely unpardonable sin--any experience can be for the better. The trick is to let those experiences add to your knowledge and experience, to let them give you life points instead of subtract.

In Doctrine and Covenants 18:10 it reads, "Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God." It doesn't say, "Remember when your life stinks, so do you." It doesn't say, "Remember that the better person you are, the more God loves you." God loves everyone, and every soul is worth so much more than any life experience can attest to.

So I'd encourage all of you--especially on holidays like Christmas and the upcoming New Year's--to take a look at your life. At all the crazy, wild and fun things you've done. All the everyday experiences you have. All the people you know, the goals you've accomplished. Take a look at those things that have been hard for you, things you wish you hadn't done. Think about how everything will be "for your profit and learning," and then reexamine the value of the life you've lived. Don't compare with anyone else, just appreciate what you've done throughout your life. I promise you won't be disappointed with what you find. :)

And there you have my thoughts for the day! :) Merry Christmas everyone! Have a wonderful HOLYday. ;D