Everything You Need to Know About Life You Can Learn From Playing Tetris

When I was younger, I used to love playing video games. Mostly because my dad loved them and my dad was my hero. Anything he loved... I loved. Even though I don't play much these days, I still have a fond affection for them.

On Saturday morning, James and the kids were still fast asleep and I was completely awake. I decided to do something I haven't done in ages and sit down to lose myself in a game of Tetris for a while. Tetris by far has always been my favorite video game. For the most part, I lose interest in games quickly. Tetris however, I can zone out and play for up to an hour or more sometimes.

As I was playing, I realized that Tetris is a lot like life.

1. Our view of the "future" is really short sighted: I remember the age old question in school about What do you want to be when you grow up? Sure, we make plans, set life goals, and daydream about where we're going to be in 5 years. When you're a kid you carefully map out the career you're going to have, the prince charming you're going to marry, the house you're going to buy, and the perfect 2.5 children you're going to have. But it doesn't always work out that way. The truth is, you never really know what you're going to come up against. Sure, you have a glimpse, a guess, an idea, but only for a few steps ahead of where you really are in that moment.

2. Life is one gigantic puzzle: Life is as unpredictable as it comes. I certainly never planned to be a single mom at the age of 19, but it happened. Don't get me wrong, looking at it now I love that I had Lena as young as I did, but at the time I found out I was having her it wasn't part of the game plan. I was in college, young and in love, and well... dumb. I had to figure out how to fit those pieces together in order to get to the next level. And, as it turns out, I had to figure it on my own (well sorta, my family helped a whole lot!) There was no trading them, no undo button, and no way to stop them as they fell from the sky. I simply had to figure out where to put them.

3. The longer you play the game, the faster it goes: Now that I'm 30, time is literally flying by. Just yesterday I could swear I was snapping pictures of my kindergartner with her fancy Little Mermaid backpack on. I blinked and now we're having conversations about what it's going to be like when she starts middle school this fall. I continuously threaten to invent a time machine so that we can go back to the days when she actually let me put her hair in pigtails, but the more I fight against time, the faster it seems to disappear. At this point in the game, it's keep up or get the hell out of the way.

4. The pieces don't always fit perfectly: No one lives a picture perfect life. It's inevitable that somewhere in our journey through human existence that we're going to face a few trials.You can either make the best of it and make it work to your advantage or you can throw your hands up and let the whole thing blow up in your face. Sometimes, no matter what you do, it blows up anyway and you have to just pick up the pieces and start over.

5. It's a game, ENJOY it: It sounds cliche to say that life is too short to take it too seriously, but it's true. We're all just a tiny blip on the radar of time and we shouldn't waste a single moment that we're given. Forget about the mental picture you have of what life should be like and appreciate what's right in front of you. Laugh when you find something that amuses you, cry when a moment tugs at your heart strings, go ahead and breathe fire when something pisses you off, and remember to cherish every day for the value it holds. Today, tomorrow, and next year is an adventure, so let go and have some fun!