Ripe-Time, a strategy for life
Age of Empires came with my family's first PC when I was a kid. I loved raising up a little army of warriors; watching their axes all gleaming in the same animation as I sent a wave against the computer's civilization.
The game was pretty easy, but (like other RTSs) strength came through a min-max frame of mind: put the stone mine right next to the stone and with just enough villagers to work it so that they won't run into each other. (Maximize the number of villagers that can work the mine at max speed and minimize the distance they have to travel).
With min-max as the ever-guiding light, victory against the computer was easy to attain. However, for those awake to see unneeded opportunities, the game did reward some limited adaptation rooted in civilization specialties and the current map layout. For instance if your strongest solider required a lot of gold and the map had a lot of gold close to you, focus on gold mining and getting a lot of those types of soldiers. However if that same civilization also had great watch towers and you happened to start near a lot of stone, it would be better to go the watchtower route and build a bunch of towers, defend a wave, then counter attack with some axe warriors (only 50 food each!).
Like Age of Empires, adult life rewards min-maxing for strength. Adaptation based on the connections between personal traits and the current surroundings can be ignored.
I turned 40 a couple of days ago. I realized coming up on it that this was the first birthday in a long time (and perhaps the last?) where culture seemed to make a big deal about it and there was encouragement for me to make a big deal of it in some way. Did I want to get a bunch of people together to party, go on some big trip, or embark on a new hobby? Lots of options.
I ended up spending the day in small-scale activities with just a few people. Not only are these three dear to me, but I realized I am in a special season with the three of them.
Some of the other options sounded like fun too. And I am normally one to grab the winds of group-fun when I can seize them for an adventure I desire. But I realized the big options were out of sync with me in this current season. I have had some incredible blessings in the past that I could have, with effort, recreated for a moment. Yet there were moments on hand right now that in another twenty years I would be longing to recreate for a moment. I chose to take the sweet, ripe fruit in my backyard.
It proved to be a delicious decision. One of the best birthdays of my life.