With this final day of the Gratitude Challenge, I wrap up the 7 days of acknowledging the wonderful things in my life I’m grateful for. While not every portion of these posts may have touched your hearts, the main reason I’ve been posting these (aside from taking a break while I focus on wrapping up our fiction anthology release (Arcane Synthesis) is because I figured you might find these inspirational/encouraging—at least a little something in each post—or at least find them interesting.
I’ve been very transparent and while you may not have agreed with everything I’ve said, or cared about everything, I think the posts have given some solid insights into my background, why I am such a positive person, why I’m here, where I and QT Games are heading, etc.
Following this post, I’ll be returning to my regular game design diary and company focused posts, mostly about the Cosmoverse Campaign Setting and Cosmothea Blended-Genre Roleplaying Game, but also about upcoming fiction and why I made the decisions that I did. I’ll also get into some of the design concepts I’ve bandied about, revised, tossed out, and what you can look forward to in upcoming products.
Now then, as I’m already late getting you this final post of this tangent, without further ado, the final day of the challenge! [Most future posts will be much shorter. I hope you stick around for the regular gaming and fiction posts and our occasional tangent about life, the universe and everything. Have a great weekend, all! Cheers!
Gratitude Challenge Day 7:
1. Creativity: I am grateful for my creativity. It has made life a lot more fun. When I’m waiting somewhere and people around me are all using their cell phones, all I really want is a blank notebook and a pen. I love to just sit and create, whether it’s snippets of dialogue for some future skit or play I want to write, an idea for another Cosmoverse story, a sketch of my next cartoon character or creature for my Cosmothea RPG, a new spin on a game mechanic or setting element, or even an idea for another card or board game.
As long as I can think, I can entertain myself for hours on end, and have a blast doing it. I used to pray for red lights so I’d have time while driving to write down ideas. I’ve come up with numerous board game concepts and dozens of stories while driving, none of which I would be able to do without creativity. I have far, far too many cool ideas to ever find time to write them all down or draw them and eventually try to publish them, so until my brain no longer functions properly or I get too old to think, I will have tons of exciting things I can work on! What a wonderful gift that is useful in every area I’m interested in, and I only hope that I will be able to spend a good portion of the rest of my life using my creativity to pursue my dreams and be a blessing to others!
2. Games: I am grateful to have spent the past 35 years working on, playing or expanding upon one version or another of the Cosmothea Blended-Genre Roleplaying Game and the Cosmoverse Campaign Setting. Both have been tremendous fun. I’ve done a lot of things over my life, but none of the hobbies I’ve tried have ever held a candle to tapping my imagination through roleplaying and game design. The game is still not on the market, in large part due to a lack of finances, but I’ve still had a lot of fun with it and still hope to one day get the finances to pursue it commercially.
The Cosmoverse setting, (which for those who don’t know, is a universe I created and filled with imaginary creatures, cultures, magic, science fiction, superheroes and lots of cool ideas), is also not on the market yet, but Lord willing, will be one day. It has been immensely satisfying and it is the backdrop for nearly all of the stories I have written and plan to write for the remainder of my days. I’ve also had the pleasure of designing over two dozen board and card games since I was about 14, and have had so much fun with them (yeah, I’m hoping to publish a few before I pass away, but come what may in life, I’ll never regret the time I invested in exploring my imagination through games!
3. Drive: Call me foolish, naïve, stubborn, and maybe I’m a touch of those things—nobody’s perfect, but the fact is, anyone who knows me, knows I’m a driven person. I’m grateful that I’m no quitter! It doesn’t take a lot to knock me down, but you can be assured that I’ll get right back up and continue down the path I’ve chosen. The reason for this unwillingness to admit defeat, to throw in the towel and lay down my dreams, is that I believe I’ve been given solid reasons to stay the course. I believe I can make it.
Sure, I’m a very positive person, but I know my limitations too. And my dreams are ones that many don’t achieve (prolific, published author and game designer chiefly) and I admit there’s times I feel like giving up, when I don’t know if I can go on. I know the road is hard and know others who have tried and failed, but I continue to do research and work toward my dreams. I have quite a bit of experience and pray daily for wisdom. And I have seen wisdom bubble forth at times when I’ve needed it most and I’ll continue to pray for more and learn from my own mistakes. (I guess I’m not so foolish, nor so naïve after all). Yet after so many trials I still don’t give up.
Stubbornness then? That implies a refusal to change my opinions and direction, despite good advice, but I spend a great deal of time seeking advice, studying the market, doing my homework, and making adjustments to my dream.
Making adjustments isn’t failure, it’s preparing for success! I’m not stubborn for pursuing a hard dream to accomplish. I have solid reasons for why I’m so driven. The reason is simple. I’m not relying on myself to carry the ball. I’m merely bringing the ball to the field and having learned the game, am approaching the goal and am prepared to kick the ball when and where God tells me to.
I’m confident in God’s ability to help me achieve my goals because I believe there’s nothing too difficult for God. He has affirmed again and again that I’m on the right path, and while I still have a long way to go to reach my goals, I’m trusting in him and am doing my job. What makes me so driven is what I’m eternally grateful! ‘Nuff said. ☺
QT Games 