All have the superpower, few use it

All have the superpower, few use it.

I am a gamer. I play lot of games. More than I should play. There is a thin line between addiction to games and intense game session. I don’t know where I lie.

And while playing online I aim to win. Otherwise, where is the fun and the challenge? Now I play to win. Sometimes fun takes a backseat. And because I play to win I play like working. To win and get the reward. The sweet reward becomes my motivation. Like a rat chasing its cheese in a lab. And in that process thousands of thoughts invade my mind.

And my mind processes each thought. Even if its fast it still processes it. And I loose my focus. I think about the reward. I think about the enemy’s level. Of my level advancing. Or decreasing. My fault in previous play. My teammate’s fault. About enemy’s stupidity. This is endless.

And in this process I loose my superpower. Calmness. Stillness.

Being calm is hard.

It is hard because in times that matter you are not in control over your thoughts. And your reactions to it.

In my case, I think about scenarios which most likely won’t occur. I don’t live and play in the present. Instead in a world created by my mind. I play in the illusion.

Being calm in such scenarios is hard. Thoughts that don’t serve us spam us in our brain. Our spam filter stops working. We are in panic mode. We are not even aware of the problem.

And that is the first step to be calm.

To be aware.

When you are aware of what’s happening, of the problem… that is huge advantage. You have found your north star. All you have to do is follow it. Once you know you are in panic or not-calm mode you can begin your counterattack.

Being aware requires you to be in charge of your mind. Don’t let your mind go in autopilot. Autopilot sucks in panic state. It works on when panic button is not switched on.

One of the way I try to be in more aware state is to always question “Who is the I”? Most of the time “I” just keeps going on thinking. Even at the of writing I wasn’t thinking about “I”. It was automatic.

I am far from being successful but I know it helps. But at this point we are trying to be calm. So normally you are calm and it doesn’t matter if you question yourself. In times of stress and panic you really have to question yourself.

Questioning yourself = being aware. Being aware is the first step of being calm. Second is prioritizing.

Let your thoughts be.

One thing is for sure. The thoughts won’t stop. They will keep coming from your self. What you can do is you can stop prioritizing them. Let it flow without your processing.

Don’t let it seep in to your body. Don’t let it flow in your blood. Don’t let it energize you and then control you.

In my game I think of hundreds of stupid scenarios. Instead, I can focus on defeating enemy at that moment. The position he is in. What is he trying to do. And so on. That will serve me 100 times more than thinking. And then letting my undesirable thoughts take control over me.

This works for sports as well. In badminton, tennis, car racing, squash. The moment we start thinking of the opponent’s score… that is the moment we start seducing our defeat. Its the first step of panic. So stop prioritizing it. Stop the seed from growing.

Let your thoughts be. Except one.

Which is the present.

All you have is present. Especially in times of panic. Each second in panic scenario is important. Don’t you dare lose it. Or you lose to panic. Keep your thoughts in the present. About winning the next point in badminton match. Or the way to convince the other party for the deal.

Switch on your spam filter and only let thoughts which help present pass. Let your other thoughts die. Focus your thoughts to your north start. You will be unstoppable.