Maps - 7/5/19

During my childhood, I spent many hours playing a computer game called Command & Conquer: Red Alert. Each multiplayer match began with a construction vehicle in the middle of the screen awaiting orders. Only a small area surrounding your base was visible. The rest of the map was complete darkness.

In order to reveal new parts of the map, I had to explore in all directions, commanding soldiers and vehicles to venture into the darkness, risking encounters with enemy combatants and potential stumbling across their highly protected bases. 

On the contrary, staying only in the areas you knew was a losing strategy. While run-ins with the enemy was a risk, discovering resources and an opponent's base earlier increased your chances of victory. 

Recently, after coming back to my hometown after living in Southern California for almost 20 years, I realized that most of my childhood was spent within a 8 mile radius with weekly trips to the city to visit my grandparents after church. I compared to how much farther I travel in my adulthood for a nice meal, visiting family, and work.

Estimated range now? 60 miles. 

As I look back at where my journey has taken me and how I’ve grown from them, I also look forward and wonder if I will look back at my 30s the same way I saw my childhood map history. Where I live. What I do. The worries that float around my mind. I wonder if future me will laugh at all the things I worry about now and look at these small things fondly. Perhaps. Very likely. In fact, I would say that I’m aiming for it.

We spend our life in bubbles and not only just geographical ones. Bubbles can exist in the company we keep, the mindsets passed onto us, and with the information we consume. It may be dark out there away from our currently revealed and comfortable areas. It may be scary and there could be monsters that lie in the shadows. But there are resources, relationships, and lessons that will change our lives, as well.

During this 4th of July week, let’s exercise the freedom we are blessed to have and use it to make us better people. 

What will you do this week to expand your “map?”

Fuck yeah, it’s Friday!

Command & Conquer: Red Alert by Westwood Studios