I love games and I always have.
It doesn’t matter whether it’s a one-player game like solitaire, a one-on-one game like foosball, or a team sport like water polo. Of course, I like some games better than others (foosball is millions of times better than solitaire).
But nonetheless, games make life fun. I don’t know exactly what it is about games that make them so awesome, but it seems to boil down to having a challenging goal you want to accomplish and having some competition (against others or yourself) thrown in.
And since games are so fun, I look forward to playing them and try to incorporate them into my life often. Heck, even this weekend I’m heading with a friend up to LA to play in a foosball tournament at a brewery.
Games aren’t just fun though. They’re powerful. They can be addictive, fun, educational, dangerous, exhilarating, strenuous, or boring. They can take over your life, or they can help you take control of it.
Using Games to Make Sucky Things Awesome
How many people want to lose weight but don’t, because eating healthy and exercising aren’t fun to them? How many people want to get out and make new friends but don’t, because going out alone for the night is the opposite of a good time?
Therein lies the problem. People don’t do the things they know they should because they don’t find them to be fun. I heard an amazing quote recently from Zen Dude Fitness that goes like this:
If it’s not fun, it’s not sustainable.
I absolutely love this quote. At Zen Dude Fitness, they help people lose weight and get fit by using jump ropes. And they’re convinced that it works so well because it’s a lot more fun to jump rope than it is to go jogging or use an elliptical.
Well, I couldn’t agree more. That’s why I want to bring games into the fold.
There are two ways that to use games to make things more fun.
The first way is to take something ordinary and turn it into a game. For example, if I want to become a better free throw shooter, I’m going to want to spend a lot of time practicing my free throw shots.
If I just stand there and shoot the same shot over and over for an hour, it can get pretty boring. However, if I make it a goal to get 20 in a row or break my previous record, I could be there for a while before I accomplish it. But that hour will go by much faster and be a lot more fun because I turned it into a game.
The other way to use games to your advantage is to find a game that helps you get better at certain skills or accomplish specific goals that may be less fun otherwise. For instance, if I want to exercise more but struggle to go running or hit the gym, maybe I’d join an adult-league soccer team. As long as I enjoy the game, I’m much more likely to do it.
This brings me to my main point.
Adult-league Sports Are Amazing
I have three reasons why I believe this:
1. They’re great for meeting people and building relationships.
Socially, adult-league sports are amazing. You can meet new people. You can play with existing friends. You get to know another side of people that you won’t see if you hang out with them anywhere else.
On top of that, it’s great for developing and strengthening relationships. Whenever you’re having fun and accomplishing a common goal with someone, you build a much stronger bond.
And to make them even better, these sports teams meet regularly. That means that you don’t have to meet and try to turn a stranger into a new friend in one conversation or evening. You know you will see them again for the next several weeks, so you have time to naturally develop a relationship with them.
2. They give you a good workout.
Getting outside and playing a sport forces you to exercise. We all know how important fitness is to our health, so any way that we can get ourselves to incorporate it into our lives is a plus.
Sure, if you’re playing once a week then you’ll probably want to do other workouts as well, but still, you’re knocking out one per week without even thinking about it.
Or even better, join a team that plays more often or practices between games.
3. They’re fun!
If you choose a sport you enjoy playing, then you’ll have a blast. That’s the best part about adult-league sports.
Life is for living, and everyone should put in the effort to make sure they enjoy it. Sure, we all have to make sacrifices here and there, but you need to make sure you’re taking care of you. Otherwise, it’ll impact every other part of your life.
By playing a sport you enjoy, you’ll get that challenge and competition that makes games so fun. And the good news is that your skill level often doesn’t matter. Many organizations have different leagues for various levels of ability.
Take Advantage of Sports Leagues
What are you waiting for? Get out there and join a sports league already!
Ok, ok. I know they aren’t for everyone. But I highly recommend you take this advice to heart and find a way to use games to get more out of your life.
If you can find ways to accomplish the things you want while making it fun at the same time, you know you’re pointed in the right direction. You’ll either be accomplishing more of what you truly want or making the things you already do even more fun, or both.
Don’t think that you’re too old for games or that you’re past that part of your life. Find a way to bring them back and see how good of a decision it really is.