Pondering in a bar at four in the morning. #1

Dear fellow players,

The last few weeks have been very turbulent. Different countries or alliances have often found themselves at supposed advantages or disadvantages. There have been frequent complaints about where in the game additional balancing is still needed.

However, particularly when it comes to communication between individual players, I (and I’m sure you all here too) repeatedly encounter what can sometimes be enormous points of friction. Each of us has to deal with different realities of life and ways of interacting with others. Personally, I find this very fascinating, partly for professional reasons. However, in the chats, in-game and on various Discord servers, I’ve noticed that some players struggle to handle criticism (whether constructive or not); that a lot is taken personally; and that, in these moments of escalation, one’s own ego often prevails and takes over.
In the long run, this isn’t just unhealthy for your mental wellbeing, but it also doesn’t help to ensure that the game remains the fun experience we all want it to be here.

That’s why, following my successful hydration campaign, I’d now like to launch my next project on the topic of mindfulness. I’m not yet sure if I’ll manage to do this every day, but I’ll do my best. :)

The first story I’ve picked out for you is quite a short one. But I think it’s a great example of how sometimes brevity is the soul of wit. It originally comes from a Buddhist teaching.

That is the tale of the two arrows.

You are walking in the woods and suddenly you get struck by an arrow (someone fires an arrow at you) and it hits you right in the chest and it really, really hurts - it’s very painful and you feel that physical pain in your chest, and it’s bleeding. And then immediately your mind starts to think - “Oh my god, what’s gonna happen? What if I bleed to death? What if this is infected and I can’t walk back properly? Or I lose energy and I can’t get back to my family? What’s gonna happen to my family? What’s gonna be happening to my husband / my wife / my children? What’s gonna happen to me or what’s going to happen to their future, how will they be doing?”

The Buddha describes the first arrow as the physical pain and the second arrow is what your mind does - The second arrow ist our emotional reaction to the first, an d often, it is more Painful than the first arrow.

In life we can't always control the first arrow. However, the second arrow is optional. This means how we react will dictate whether or not we suffer.

Personally, I’m not sure whether it’s always easy to strip this second arrow of its power. Quite the opposite, in fact. I believe this is a task one has to work on throughout one’s entire life, because it concerns the fundamental authority we ourselves have over our own consciousness. This is a particular challenge in today’s world, and in fast-paced games like Warera – with their heated discussions – it can be especially difficult to put into practice, particularly at the start of this exercise.

However, giving it a go can only bring positive results in this case.

A quote I found particularly apt here was:

" We cannot change what we are not aware of, and once we are aware, we cannot help but change."

- Sherly Sandburg

Have a good night and see you next time.

Coolest regards from your local bar.

PS:

I’d like to point out that all funds donated for this article will go directly to my country, Thailand, so that we can soon live in peace with all our neighbouring regions and countries. Thank you very much for your support! :)