Are you in the game?
(This was written on the day of the 2022 FIFA World Cup Final)
It was the winter of 2013, and I was back home in Pokhara (Nepal) for a break from school. I was planning on relaxing at home during the winter break when my mom decided that I should have my ganglion surgically removed. For those who know me closely, they have seen the accumulation of fluid on my right wrist, which looks out of place but is benign. One of our tenants had lost her son to a tumor on his hand which may have looked like mine, but mine was and is harmless. So, my mom was very anxious about the ganglion, and we had scheduled surgery to remove it while I was home. The ganglion had been an uninvited guest on my wrist since I was in grade 10. At that time, my best friend used to call it my lucky charm because, coincidentally, good things happened to me at school every time it showed up. The ganglion has been an on-and-off thing for me since then, and I have fully embraced its existence. I guess my mom's brain could not comprehend it then and hence the whole thing.
According to the plan, the surgery was performed, and the ganglion was removed. I was not allowed to move my right hand too much to avoid swelling and all those good things. I wouldn't go out because I had just had surgery, so I spent all day at home either in front of my laptop or my phone. That's when I started playing the famous game at the time, "Candy Crush"! Many of you may have heard or played it yourself. It was my favorite pastime that winter. Although it was mostly fun, like everything else in life, this game came with its own share of challenges, making me want to give up. I would get so frustrated getting stuck at a level, and not being able to progress to another. However, my stubbornness would not let me give up, and when I least expected it, the game would reward me with something like "Sugar Crush" and similar stuff! And just like that, what I thought was impossible a split second ago would happen right in front of my eyes, and I would proceed to another level. Woah!
Me being me, random since forever or should I say reflective since forever, I would tell my mom you know what life is like Candy Crush. If you keep playing the game even when it feels impossible, "Sugar Crush" will happen, and you will likely go to the next level just like that. The main idea is that you need to keep playing the game even when you are on the verge of losing hope! I don't know if my mom gave much thought to what I said back then because she was probably thinking, "This girl is always on the phone playing this nonsense game." However, almost 10 years later, I thought about it again a few days ago and realized that it was an awesome thing that I had thought, and it is so freaking true! You just need to be on your game and keep playing it! That was the exact thought I had today as I watched France in their element during the World Cup Final. Just when everyone thought France had no hope, Kylian Mbappe scored two goals within 2 minutes, bringing France back into the game toward the end of the second half. There was one more goal, penalty, and whatnot, but let's not dive into that. Although France may not have won the match, Mbappe certainly won the hearts of millions of people around the world, opening myriad opportunities for himself.
Life is challenging, and often you feel like giving up. However, in those moments, especially in those moments, you must remind yourself not to give up yet because that "Sugar Crush," that goal, and that breakthrough is about to happen if you keep pushing forward.
As Dory said in Finding Nemo, "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming!"