February 19, 2008
Most guys my age have at least some kind of game console. If not, they play PC games. If they don’t even do that, then they are the anomaly in a world which is rapidly becoming completely digital.
Until Easter, I'm going to be one of those anomalies. That's right, I'm giving up video games for Lent.
The idea came to me when I saw a girl with an ash cross on her forehead. If no one knows what that means, it’s the traditional symbol for Ash Wednesday, the start of a 40-day period where one is meant to give up something important as a display of penitence. I had never participated in Lent before, but then, I only became a true Christian fairly recently.
And so I thought for a moment on what I would give up. Initially, the idea of food came up, but I put that aside and went for the activity that takes up much of my time and has forced me into procrastination for so many nights: playing video games.
I’m only allowed to play my Xbox on weekends, so my normal method of gaming is on a PC. I have a few games there, ranging from the popular "Halo" to the little-known "Galactic Civilizations II." But since Feb. 6, I haven’t played any of them.
It’s taught me a few interesting things.
I noticed very quickly that my thoughts immediately turned to games whenever I experienced the tiniest moment of boredom.
Now I fill the time with reading and sometimes writing, but before I might have sat at the computer for hours, killing some imaginary enemy in "Counter-Strike."
In addition, my mood has improved, along with my efficiency in completing assignments. Lacking anything better to do, I don’t have an excuse for putting off work.
Plus, I am no longer rushed in the mornings, having packed my lunch and done my work the night before.
I still have a while to go before this experiment is over, but I suspect that the results will leave me a very different person.
