I’ve always preferred playing Real-Time Strategy games over First-Person shooters.

Something about staring down an entire battlefield to make strategic decisions feels more comforting to me than being solely responsible for a single character, even when on the edge of defeat.

Unfortunately, real life is closer to a first-person shooter than a strategy game. We cannot separate ourselves from the experience of living and rarely are we asked to zoom out, plan and reposition.

One strategy I’ve used to look at myself from a third-person perspective has been storytelling.

I tell the story of my life, past, present, or future, with strangers, acquaintances, and friends. I pay attention to what I say, how I say it, and what I avoid saying altogether.

This way, I get to be reminded that I am both the author and the protagonist in my own story.