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| Too much of a good thing. |
We've all been there. Sometimes we spend way too much time gaming that it starts to take a toll on our daily lives. Be it lack of sleep due to staying up all night, having eye strain from playing too much in the dark, or preferring to stay inside playing because it's more fun than having regular interactions with people, gaming can take negative toll on us. Today, I'll be discussing when gaming impacted my life in a bad way, how I managed to overcome it, and offer some general tips that worked well for me.
The first time I've felt that gaming was getting harmful was back in 10th grade, when I first played Borderlands 2 on PS3. I was really in love with the FPS-RPG hybrid and unexpectedly, I got addicted to it. I'd play it even after everyone in the house was asleep during school days where I started from 12AM, finish up around 4, and then woke up at 6. I felt like crap throughout the week due to lack of sleep and I wasn't focusing in school until I finally beat the game. By 12th grade, my Dad was mad that I'd spend most of my time shut inside playing instead of going out... which is true since I barely did anything other than play games all summer long (I remember getting addicted to Just Cause 2 back in the day). Still, I took his advice and it was the best thing ever.
I fondly remember my senior year in high school making new friends and hanging out with them every week, and it was a lot of fun. I picked up reading again, a favorite hobby of mine besides gaming, and was reading a bunch of novels. Also, I went swimming for the first time in years and it was great exercise. What's even better was that I found lots of time for gaming too. I was keeping up with my backlog and the current game releases, so it was a pretty great time for me. Nowadays, I balance gaming, exercising, going out with friends and family, and things have been working out great.
In conclusion, gaming can be harmful to us if we let it. What I learned based off experience is that any hobby is best enjoyed in moderation. Too much can lead to burn-out and too little isn't any fun. Even if that gaming session is too good, if gaming's getting on the harmful side, you need to take a step back, unplug for a bit, and come back refreshed. Everyone has other hobbies to indulge in and if you don't, then it's all the more reason to find one you might enjoy. I'd say exercise is a great alternative since you're taking care of your health.
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