“Your 20s are your tutorial mode.” — Japanese dad likens each decade of life to a video game stage

From download to post-boss content, loving dad shares his mature wisdom in a way that’s easy for his much younger son to relate to.

The phrase “the game of life” can sometimes sound sort of heartless. After all, isn’t it a little demeaning to liken human existence to a contest to be won or lost, and with set rules that have to be followed along the way?

But Japanese Twitter user @omiomiomi1230 recently shared a more positive way of applying game concepts to the way you look at things. Recently the 26-year-old was having a few drinks with his dad but feeling a little morbid about the lack of progress he’s been making toward meaningful life goals. “I’m already 26. What am I doing with my life?” @omiomiomi1230 grumbled, to which is dad replied, “Don’t worry about it. You’re still only 26. Life doesn’t really start until you’re 30.”

@omiomiomi1230 wouldn’t be consoled that easily, though, because his feelings of frustration hadn’t just started recently. “I screwed up a lot in my teens too,” he lamented, and this time, Dad decided to encourage his kid using the unexpected perspective of video games, saying

“In your teens, you’re still downloading your life. If something goes wrong, it’s just a data transmission error.”

That wasn’t the only gaming analogy Dad was ready with, either, as he went on (in a series of now-deleted tweets) to explain:
● “Your 20s are the tutorial mode. If you screw up, you can still redo most things.”
● “In your 30s, you’re still earning experience points to level up.”
● “In your 40s, you should be just about ready to start taking on mid-bosses.”
● “In your 50s, you’re strong enough to fight the last boss.”
● “In your 60s, you help out younger, lower-level characters.”
● “In your 70s, you focus on extra, optional content, since you’ve already cleared the main scenario.”

In Japan, fathers are often thought of as being, first and foremost, providers of financial security, with emotional support being somewhat further down the list of things society expects them to supply their children with. @omiomiomi1230’s father’s kind, wise, and easy-to-understand advice, though, let him know that there’s a season for everything in life, and that even if you’re not breezing through the early levels, that doesn’t mean you’ve already run into a game over.

Source: Twitter/@omiomiomi1230 via Jin
Top image: Pakutaso

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