As I sit down to type this, whether it’s an entry, a message, or just a random midnight ramble, a flood of quotes runs through my mind: “Life’s a game,” “Try, try, and try until you succeed,” and the timeless classic, “Never give up.”
We’ve all been there, not just once or twice, but sometimes multiple times a day. The thing is, not many of us actually stop to notice it.
I’m probably rambling here, but bear with me because I’m having what people call a “Eureka moment”.
It’s 1:07 a.m., and instead of snoozing like a normal human being, I’m typing this, which obviously means it’s important.
Let me just say, the past few days, weeks, or honestly, this entire month have been... let’s call it “spectacularly chaotic”. I can’t even blame the year anymore because we’re already well into it.
What a ride, though.
I swear, it feels like I’ve used up enough energy for several months in one go. That’s how fucking intense it’s been.
Now, bear with me because I’m typing straight from my brain without worrying about grammar or typos.
Honestly, who even decided we needed grammar rules?
English is just a tool for communication, not some kind of status symbol. You get what I’m saying, right?
And, let’s be real, my English isn’t that bad. Surely I deserve at least a Band 7? If not, whoever graded my IELTS and I clearly had very different opinions about my English.
Anyway, I glanced at the clock, and it’s now 1:17 a.m.
I’ve been typing non-stop for ten minutes.
What I actually wanted to say is this: I was feeling all gloomy, overthinking my career, life, and a thousand other personal issues, so I picked up my phone and started playing a game.
It was PVP mode.
And I lost.
Not once.
Not twice.
Five times.
Five.
Can you believe that?
But I refused to quit.
I played again.
And finally won.
Oh, the joy!
I was literally over the moon.
I even imagined myself doing some goofy moon dance, like that kid in the movie. Ugh, what’s it called?
It’s about a girl who builds a rocket to meet the moon goddess.
It’s right on the tip of my tongue.
Hang on. Googling it.
Ah!
It’s Over the Moon.
LOL!
Anyway, back to my late-night reflections.
Winning that one game was like a dopamine explosion, so I played another round...
And won again.
Then a third time.
A hat-trick!
Except my phone’s autocorrect had other ideas and decided I meant Patrick or attract.
Thanks, autocorrect.
After the hat-trick, though, the excitement started to fizzle out.
I felt like I’d cracked the game’s strategy.
And that’s when it hit me:
Winning isn’t as thrilling when it starts to feel predictable.
At this point, I was beyond sleepy.
It reminded me of what Mark Manson talks about in The Subtle Art of Not Giving a... uh, you know.
But the idea I took from the book was that solving problems gives us a certain kind of satisfaction. Once we think we’ve figured everything out, though, things start becoming a little dull.
By the way, I love writing.
Poems, stories, haikus. You name it.
But I’m too shy to share them.
My friends don’t even bother opening the attachments I send, let alone read my masterpieces.
Rude, right?
OMG!
Cooper is just so ridiculously adorable that I can’t take my eyes off him.
In case you’re wondering who this new character in my rambling story is, let me introduce him.
He’s my very light golden retriever.
And honestly, who on earth came up with the name golden retriever anyway?
I mean, have you seen them?
They come in a ridiculous range of shades, from rich gold to pale cream.
So where does Cooper fit into all this?
Somewhere around fluffy marshmallow, apparently.
And don’t even get me started on the whole “English Cream” nonsense.
Who decided to make a dog’s colour sound like something from a dessert menu?
Anyway, as I’m sitting here writing this, I keep getting distracted by Cooper’s fluffy, marshmallowy face.
It’s now 1:51 a.m., and I think I might be dozing off while typing this.
By now, my typing had turned into something else entirely:
Thejke ti witivo44evy. I think I’m losing my fysjceb9r typing jindyiom l. Ik too sleepy. Im sorry.
Yes.
You read that right.
Apparently, this is what happens when you try typing with your eyes half-closed.
Autocorrect is working overtime trying to salvage my sleep-deprived gibberish.
Honestly, it’s a lifesaver at this hour when my eyes are basically closed.
Because let’s face it:
This kind of clarity doesn’t happen when my eyes are open.
It’s 6:42 a.m.
I just woke up.
And honestly, I have no memory of the gibberish I typed last night, or technically, this morning.
But here I am, continuing where I left off.
So, back to this idea of problems levelling up as we tackle them, almost like stages in a video game.
Maybe solving them is part of where we find happiness.
But once you figure out the strategy and everything starts becoming easy, some of the thrill disappears.
Anyway, back to real life.
Bentley is whining in front of me because it’s time for his walk.
Oh, you’re wondering who Bentley is?
He’s my mischievous little beagle, a pint-sized troublemaker who is basically Loki in disguise.
Yes, that Loki.
The Norse god of mischief.
Honestly, I should’ve named him Loki.
But I didn’t.
Why?
Because I live in India, and I know enough people whose nickname is Loki that it would’ve felt a little weird calling my dog the same thing.
So, after a thorough internet search for the “best dog names”, I landed on Bentley.
It sounded fancy.
Sophisticated.
Very dignified for a dog whose life mission seems to be causing trouble.
Now, let me address all my dear friends and relatives who think I named Bentley after the luxury car brand because I couldn’t afford the real thing:
You’re wrong.
I didn’t even know Bentley was a car brand.
That’s how much I know about cars.
Basically zilch.
And to Bentley Motors, if you ever stumble upon this: no offence intended. I genuinely didn’t know the car existed.
And somewhere between losing five games, finally winning, getting bored of winning, staring at Cooper’s marshmallow face, and being summoned for Bentley’s walk, I think I understood what I was trying to tell myself in the first place.
Maybe the trick to life isn’t getting rid of every problem.
Maybe it’s simply learning to solve the one in front of you, enjoy the tiny victory, and then deal with whatever turns up next.
Swat one fly.
Feel accomplished.
Wait for the next swarm.
Voilà. Happiness.
Or something like it.