UNITED STATES─Where are you right now in your life? Are you truly happy with your circumstances? So many of us find ourselves stuck in situations where, how can I best say this? We are not happy. Well there are ways to change your outlook. I constantly and I mean constantly hear people talk all the time to just be positive focus on positive things.

That is so easy for someone who doesn’t understand your plight or things that you might be grappling with. Don’t you think if someone could focus fully on all things positive that would be their focus? No one wants to be stuck in a funky mood where the negative plagues their life. The mind is a very complicated organ that so many people don’t fully understand. It’s not as simple and turning a switch on and off. The brain has to be trained; you have to be in that place of solace, relaxation and peace to have that positive energy flowing your way.

When it comes to work, if you’re not happy with what you do, I’m a firm believer no matter what you try it just won’t deliver the results that you want. You already have your mind made up in terms of work, so you just go with the motions or the chaos that you endure to get thru the day. It’s sad, but for so many Americans that is where their focus is. “I just have to get thru the day and I’ll worry about tomorrow when it comes.” Trust me I know I’m not the only person facing that dilemma.

With that said, I’ve started to discover that to fully relax your mind you have to do something that takes your mind off everything. I was going to say you have to do something that brings you joy, but just because something brings you joy, will not always relax the mind. It might relax you on a temporary basis, but if you TRULY want an escape from reality as you call it. For me, I used to always think it was writing, but it’s not. Writing is something that comes natural for me and I love exploring the creative juices in my mind.

However, if there is stress in my life, guess what, writing is not going to force those stressors to vanish into thin air for a bit. You know what allows my stressors to dissipate? It’s gaming. It might be the oddest thing to me because as a kid I was an active gamer and I mean I gamed quite hard as a kid. Once I got into my teenage years, it sort of became an afterthought because I started working and it just a thing that was a major focus for me. About 2-3 years ago, old school gaming came back into limelight and the thought of having something that was part of my childhood as a collector item, I had to have.

Now, here’s the thing about gaming: it seemed to consume much more of my time back then compared to now. I rarely and I mean rarely have anytime during the week to do gaming. If I’m lucky I might get 2 hours on a Saturday, if I’m willing to carve the time out of my schedule. However, a game that may have taken like 18 hours to complete, only takes like 2-3 hours now. Is that because my memory is so much stronger now that it’s so easy to know where it is to look for certain items and how to navigate a maze?

However, whenever I do game, it’s like my brain literally forgets about every single worry that I have had. I don’t know how or why it happens, but it is the absolute best thing ever. I mean to have your mind complete switch off and to not have to worry about finances, bills, family, relationships, school or work is something I think we all want. When I game, my focus is solely focused on the game I’m playing and nothing else. So this is me telling you to find that one thing that just helps you clear the mind. It helps you decompress and it takes the stress away from your life.

Of course that thing is not something you can always do to clear your mind, but having 1-2 days a week where you have a stress free moment is something the brain needs, more than we can ever imagine.