Monday, March 01, 2010

Disappointment and Victory

I got some bad news this morning. It was business, and it's not a bad thing in the long run, but it's a blow and a setback and has left me feeling a bit adrift and at loose ends today.

BUT.

Then I played Wii Sport Resort, Swordplay Showdown.

I've been trying for MONTHS to get past level 18. MONTHS. I once spent 2 hours trying. I've gone long stretches without playing, but I'm sure I've logged many, many hours at it.

And it's kind of metaphorical, when compared to this setback I had. You see, I had certain strategies that let me get to level 18, but they failed at that point. Sometimes they failed immediately, sometimes I got to 91% (as in, I've defeated 91% of my opponents) before they failed. But I never, ever got through. I even went all the way back to the beginning once, to rebuild my score, get it as high as possible, hopefully giving me more strength/power to defeat my opponents. But nope, it didn't work.

There was a strategy I knew I needed to employ, but never got the hang of it. My brain and muscles were too trained in the old way. Today, after a bunch of failures, I made it work, and I got through level 18!

Man, you should have heard me shouting. LOL But it doesn't end there. Of course, I had to move on, and level 19 only took me a few tries. Level 20 was harder, with far more aggressive opponents, but I kept trying, and finally broke through and won. I am now Swordmaster! :)

So the lesson: Patience, new strategies, and calculated aggressiveness can lead to success. I think I'm going to have to employ that elsewhere.

6 comments:

Cindy Procter-King said...

Sorry about the setback. Good for you that worked it out of your system.

Natalie J. Damschroder said...

Thanks, Cindy! :)

Ava Quinn said...

Sounds like a great plan of attack, Natalie! Go get 'em, girl!
M3

Natalie J. Damschroder said...

Thanks, Ava! :)

Susan Gourley/Kelley said...

I'm sure you'll get by your setback and working off your stress by fighting I think is a centuries old technique.

Natalie J. Damschroder said...

I hope so, Sue. Not feeling very positive tonight. :)

And you're write about the fighting! It's quite satisfying.