Dota and real life

I'm writing this because I grew jealous of my one particular friend who can sing really well. Or jealous of my ex who was able to play like four different kind of musical instruments, or of my other friends who can dance, or of my other friends who can cook. I wish God would take 'being able to sleep through 5 alarm clocks'-talent away from me and give me talents to play saxophone instead.

Anyway, since this post is about Dota, let me rant a bit about it.

Now I know you guys don't play Dota and you are probably rolling your eyes so hard at the title. However, I assure you that this post is more about life than it is about Dota. So, please keep reading. Or don't, I'm just a wall of text, not a police.

So yes, to some of you who are familiar with Dota, feel free to skip the next three paragraphs.

I have been trying to think of any analogies similar to Dota; sadly, there is none.

- In Dota, you control a hero who has a predetermined set of abilities. Let's say you're controlling a hero, your hero can only learn four abilities that are unique to them. Meaning that there are no other heroes in the game that can learn what your hero learns.

- In order to learn the abilities, you need to be around when your enemies die (yes, Dota creators get that right; you get stronger just by seeing people die). And after watching several enemies die, you level up and are allowed to learn another ability (out of the four abilities that are available to your hero). As you level up, it gets progressively harder to advance to the next level. You only need four dead enemies to advance from level one to level two, but you need like 8 to get from level two to level three.

- Heroes are divided into three categories: Strength, Agility, and Intelligence. For some reasons, Strength heroes are better at being a tank, Agility heroes are better at dealing damage, and Intelligence heroes are better at being a support. But that doesn't mean Agility heroes can't tank, or Intelligence heroes can't deal damage. It just takes them more effort to do what they weren't meant to do.

Dota is a complex game and it's probably impossible to explain it in writings only, but trust me, I tried. I really did.

It might strike me off as insane to you guys if I say that real life is somewhat similar to Dota. (Afterall, we don't get stronger as we see our hated ones die... Or do we?) While we don't have a predetermined set of abilities, we have a set of talents instead. Some people play music beautifully, some people learn language fast, some people trade stocks efficiently. And then there are people like me that just can't do anything well. Some people just do some things better than most people do.

However, unlike Dota (where a hero can't learn what other heroes learn), in real life we can learn almost pretty much anything. You can learn to play a saxophone despite you having no talent whatsoever in music. You can learn to write despite your thoughts are as incoherent as Justin Bieber's lyrics. You can learn to act although your face has as much facial expression as Kristen Stewart's. You see, some people just do things better than us and there is nothing we can do about it. In return, if you want to learn about those things, there is nothing they can do about it either.

Although Intelligence heroes are better at being a support, in my 6 years of playing Dota, I've seen far too many damage-dealing Intelligence heroes. I've seen people who do some things really well despite having no talents in that particular area.

I really wish somebody would invent a time machine so I could go back to 15 years ago and start learning to play saxophone.

What's stopping you? You're not a Dota hero that can only learn four skills. You don't live in the Dota world where you can learn new skills only after seeing your enemies die. Your potential is endless and you live in a world where you have all the time in the world to learn what you want. Just pick any skills that you want to learn and start learning it.

Now, please excuse me for I have to start looking for a saxophone to buy.

P.S. I'm writing this because I want to try writing something people are not familiar about. Let me know how you think about this below!

P.P.S. In another note, yay to me for publishing a post on Sunday!

Motivation and shit

There are so many motivational speakers out there. Tony Robbins, Tung Desem Waringin, Nick Vujicic, you name it.

But I'm not them.

In fact, if there ever was an occupation that's a total opposite of motivational speakers, I will probably be one of the best at doing that. If we lived in a world where everyone can understand what others think, I would get hit in the face. A lot. My thoughts are rude and my words sarcastic. I just can't seem to emphatize with what other people go through. But for once, I want to motivate people. I want to move people only using words. So here it is, my motivational post.

Fortitude is never my strong point. Actually, I have always been a lazy person. In winter, I skipped college classes because it was very cold. In summer, I skipped classes because it was hot. And in spring and fall, I skipped classes because I wanted to play games instead. In those three of my college years, I accomplished nothing but eat and sleep.

Meanwhile a friend of my friend actually managed to establish his own business in his first year of college. In fact, two years after graduating, he had already founded 6 startup companies (yeah you read that right. Six, as in 1+1+1+1+1+1), all the while I was sleeping my ass off. It occurred to me that I needed to change. I deeply wished that I had used my time a little bit wiser. Maybe, just maybe, if I had used my time a little bit wiser, I would have a business to call my own now.

It's never too late to start what you want to do and to be what you might have been. If you like singing, go for it. Start recording your singing and upload them to Youtube. If you like writing, start writing a blog. If you like having sex, go to Japan and apply to be a porn star.

You know, my dad used to want me to be a doctor. Like, someone who uses a fucking knife to dissect a patient. After finding out that I have zero tolerance to blood and biology in general, he then wanted me to be a fucking professor. Like, a PHd. It was then when I realized that him wanting me to be something has nothing to do with me. It has everything to do with him. Me being a doctor or being a PHd means so much to him that he can brag to everyone about his genius child.

Fuck that.

Life is too short to do what your parents tell you to do. You only live once and you won't relinquish the years spent to satisfy your parents. I'm not saying that you shouldn't love your parents and satisfy them. All I'm saying is that if your parents truly love you, they will stop being a prick and let you live your life (unless, of course, you want to be a Nicki Minaj, then I fully support whatever your parents want you to be).

It's been exactly a year since I graduated and I really wish I had started planning my own business earlier. Do what you want to do now; since a year from now, you will wish you had started today.