Everything I Needed to Know I Learned from Minecraft

I don’t play a ton of Minecraft, but I dig it. It’s therapeutic for me. I don’t tend to be overly ambitious and build a ton. In fact, I stick to the “Pocket” (iOS) version or maybe my friend’s Xbox version. The Mac/PC version seems overwhelming.

I just like to get started, setup, mine out a mountain or something and maybe build something and then just enjoy.

But I’ve made some observations about the experience that parallel a lot of things in life…

1. Starting is the most fun – whether it’s Minecraft or other projects, getting things up and running tends to be the most exciting/fun part. Once things are up and running, it’s mostly maintenance and management. From talking w/ others in a variety of experiences (business, flying planes, etc.), the early stages are exciting and then later it’s paper work mostly.

2. Playing w/ others is best – I can handle more solo-time than most, but in most cases (especially when you have needs), having others with you not only makes it half the work, but fun, valuable and serves to bring you closer together and better for the next time (communication, recognition of strengths, strength in numbers, etc.)

3. Dark = danger – Whatever you do*, doing it in the dark is dangerous. It’s harder to see and there are more obstacles (monsters).

4. Sleep is good* – It’s the safe thing to do at night. It keeps bad things away (see 3) and makes you healthier. One of the very first things you should do is secure a safe place to sleep.

5. Exploring is fun – Just getting out and seeing what’s out there can produce some great things to see, do, experience and maybe lead to finding some really useful things.

6. Work is good – Not only can it provide a good place to live and food, but it allows you to be creative. I built an amphitheater one time in Minecraft just to do it and it was very satisfying and a great creative outlet.

7. More is not necessarily more – When I created a self-harvesting wheat field, I found that I was spending a lot of time managing it. While I had lots of wheat, I had little use for it. Lots of time for not much use or fun.

8. Getting lost can be fun – Finding an out-of-the-way place can be fun to explore (especially if you’re prepared… especially if you bring a bed w/ you) even if you get lost. Chances are you’ll get back out of it fine, gain a lot, see new things, etc.

9. The more you have, the more you have to lose – When you invest in ‘things’ a lot, you have to then worry about losing them. Storing them, protecting them, etc. – soon they might ‘own’ you. It’s hard to delete a Minecraft world you don’t play anymore if you’ve acquired a lot of things.

10. This is not the real world – I’m a citizen of Heaven and I’ll leave this realm at some point. That’s where my true life, identity and treasures are. It’s important to keep that in mind and value what’s truly worth valuing.