The Tea Spill Life Cleanup Challenge

[Geran]

INTRO

 

I had to do something interesting yesterday: Clean off my entire desk as quickly as possible. I had placed my tea maker back down in way that the excess water had leaked out all over my desk, and I didn't realize it until the sound of it dripping off my desk tore me away from what I was working on.

So in the span of a few seconds, I had to snatch all the loose papers and other things off my desk and clean the water up. I had to decide what was actually important and what had just been lying there because I hadn't made it a priority (much appreciation to Steve for the article about the "I don't have time" being a lie) to go through any of it. When I was done, practically nothing that had been on my desk was still there, nearly all of it had gone in the trash because I didn't actually need it.

 

This got me thinking: How many of the things in our lives are actually needed or even wanted? How many of the things/people/habits that we have in our lives are only there because we're too lazy or scared to get rid of them?

 

THE CHALLENGE:

 

So here is my challenge to all of you: If you spilled tea on your life right now and had to make snap decisions on what stayed and what went, what would you do? Who/what would go in the trash?

 

I don't expect anyone to do anything I won't do myself, so here is my current list:

 

1. Furniture.

I realized when I moved into my new apartment that the standard "ok, new place, I have to get a couch/chairs/ottoman/TV stand/coat rack/display case for the souls of my vanquished foes/etc." style of decorating wasn't something I wanted. It started with buying a pull up bar/dip station that took up a good chunk of the front room instead of a couch. Then it became a bench press/squat rack...and I realized the idea that I HAVE to get traditional furniture for my place just because was silly. I live in a gym, and I love it.

 

2. People.

I moved back home after several years on the other side of the country, and realized there were a lot of people that I honestly didn't need in my life. I cut down my social circle to the people who actually care about me and who actually enrich my life. Everyone else was either told (politely) why I wouldn't be contacting them anymore, or simply did not have contact with them re-established. This can be a painful and difficult process for a lot of people, but I PROMISE you it is worth it.

 

3. Toxic Games/Hobbies/Habits.

I used to play a LOT of League of Legends. For anyone who knows the game, you probably see where I'm going with this.

 

For those of you who don't, let me give you a quick breakdown. League of Legends (LoL) is a MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) that pairs you with up to four other complete strangers on a team to assault the enemy base and compete against five other people who are similarly randomly placed together. (The game CAN be played with friends and with arranged teams, but for the purpose of this post/rant/article we are using "Solo Queue" as the example) So it's you and 9 other gamers you don't know, on the internet, with a chat feature that can be used to type whatever you want to your team mates and the other team.

 

As you might imagine this gets...unpleasant the vast majority of the time. LoL is widely known to have one of if not THE most toxic player communities in all of gaming. Racial and homophobic slurs, threats against yourself/family/friends/home/pets, vehement insistence that you should kill yourself, you name it, someone on League has said it. Add to that that anyone on your team can pretty much intentionally throw the whole match for your whole team and still have it count on your official ranking, and you have a recipe for a LOT of stress and anger. I used to be obsessed with my League rank. I used to play upwards of ten matches a day, more if I could stay awake longer.

 

Then I moved back home, got busy, and realized I just didn't need that kind of stress in my life. I had limited time to game, and I realized how many truly GOOD single player games I was missing out on just to play more League matches. I'd skipped the entire Witcher and Dragon Age Trilogies, never touched Dishonored or any of the Bioshock games...It was depressing to realize how much of my hobby I'd been missing out on because I was obsessing over my ranking in one game, a ranking that literally gets RESET every season anyway!

 

I had enough stress in my life from moving back home, losing a relationship and friends, looking for a good job and a more permanent residence. I didn't need 9 strangers on the internet telling me to kill myself every time I didn't perform perfectly in a game I was SUPPOSEDLY enjoying. So I cut back. WAY back. For a while I walked away from the game completely. If I had time to game, I played one of the story based games I'd been missing out on. If I played League at all, it was with friends who asked me to play. I played it for FUN, not to obsess over my rank. And something funny happened: I was suddenly a lot less angry in pretty much every area of my life. Ask yourselves what games and habits are ACTUALLY fun, and which ones you're just doing "because I've always done them." 

 

 

CLOSING

 

I'm dumping a full kettle of hot tea on your life. What are you keeping, and what are you throwing away? I'd love to hear from anyone and everyone on this.

 

 

[Guzzi]

I'm too sleepy to do this right now, but maybe tomorrow.

[Geran]

Please do. I'd love to see people's responses.