Temptation of the "FARM"

After watching people playing all these farming games on their computer (HayDay, Harvest Moon, Plantasia, etc.) I used to wonder what it is that makes a lot of people like this type of game. It's not real anyway, all those crops, farm animals, products, and money. They are just imaginary stuff. I rather have a real one, I said to myself. For years, I've watched people playing the games but never tried it. 

But after deciding to try it once, I got myself addicted to one of these games, and now I understand what it is that pull us into this imaginary world and never want to quit.

The sense of "accomplishment" is very tempting indeed. When you do the farming in the games, there are mild challenges for you to overcome. But everything is way, way easier than real life. You plant the crops and they grow right in front of your eyes. Harvesting taking only seconds. Making products take hours but you don't have to shed any sweat, and you don't have to worry about the quality of the products for they are going to come out perfect. And the customers who bought your products will never come back and complain. The truck that delivers your product never have any troubles and the unseen driver never complains that they are tired. Yes, there are challenges, you have to plan the production and the resources. But in the game world, everything is just so easy. The sense of accomplishment is something we feel after we can successfully finish something as we plan, and that can happens so easily in a game. Look, I planted my crops and now they've fully grown I'm going to harvest them! Look, I have harvested the crops and now and I'm about to make some products in the machine! Look, my products are finished now I'm about to sell them. Look, they are sold and I earn so much money!! The sense of doing things successfully is what I felt while I was playing this type of game. I just want to keep doing it without coming back into the real world. I want to complete the orders first, for the customers are waiting. I want to earn a bit more money first because in just half an hour everything will be ready to pack and I will gain a lot of money from three orders finished in a row.

I felt like I'd accomplished things when I play the games, but in truth, all are just imaginary. Nothing is real. Nothing matters to my real life. Nothing helps me become a better person. Nothing makes me any richer. Actually, playing the game made me lose a very valuable thing in real life, "Time." Instead of finishing my work and making myself helpful to others, I was glued to the game and never wanted to stop. I wasted and wasted and wasted the precious time of my real life, just for imaginary accomplishment on the screen.

I am grateful that life has taught me to understand why people are addicted to the game, and I have had enough of that. I don't want to ruin my life any longer. And I really pray that God will help me quit forever, for I believe that trying to get rid of any addiction is impossible without God's grace.