Even my wife Lisa is into the game. Thankfully, not to the levels of obsession that my son and his friends are exhibiting. At our house, the daily quest for Charlizard, Squirtle and Metapod, and the rest, is topic of many a conversation. If you have no idea what I am talking about, you are in good company because neither do I. In case you haven’t heard, Pokémon Go is all the rage, a game where you “collect” characters and battle someone else’s characters through your smart phone. I am sure there is more to the game, but that is all I know for certain and my son is not here to explain it to me. Much to the chagrin of the millions around the world playing at any given time, these characters, heroes and villains alike, are not real. They are counterfeit.
About a generation ago, I bought a Nintendo 64 game system “for 
the girls” long before our son was born. One of my favorite games was Pokémon Snap; so in some respects, I am a veteran of hunting Pokémon. The object of the game was to “take pictures” of these same characters that my son and his friends are now searching out. It was a long time ago and the technology was much, much simpler; it was me against the game. Now, according to the games’ creators, the objective of this current rendition is to entice people to get out of their homes and move about; its interactive, even relational. In that respect, the game has been a huge success. But are the relationships that are formed between my son, his friends and other Poké hunters that they come in contact with real or are those counterfeit as well?
We went to church this morning and heard a thought provoking message from the church’s Pastor, Tom. The observation that he used as the basis for his message was simple, “Are we exchanging everything for nothing, the real for the counterfeit?” Quickly, my mind went down a rabbit trail of its own, only to be drawn back a few moments later. When I started this blog, I opened up my world to yours, and in many ways, it was a tremendous blessing. It quickly became a way to bridge an awkward and uncomfortable subject, it became the conduit through which emotions could be released, and by extension, it eventually became a vehicle of healing. But there still needs to be more, or at least I think there should be. The “villain” in my world is very real and has the potential to rob me of my mobility and my joy; similarly, I suspect that the same can be said for the villains that most of you face each and every day. So each day, I get up and live as though the disease has no control over my actions, I tell myself that it, too, is counterfeit. What then is real? What is real is the belief that what I do and who I am still matter; I still matter to my family, my community and to my God. What is real is my resolve to not let PD define who I am or hope to become.
Last week I shared with you that I tackled a home improvement project that did not go exactly the way that I thought it would. The next day, I paid the price. But yesterday, I was back at it. Why? Then, in the sweltering heat, the answer came to me, I enjoy doing them! I was not about to let my PD define who I am and what I want to accomplish.
I am reminded of something that I wrote in a previous post; even though your life will be different because of your challenges, you don’t need to lose sight of those passions that make you uniquely you. A life that’s different doesn’t need to be ordinary, it can still be extraordinary. Every once in a while, I too need a reminder; so today, I had to include that excerpt for my benefit.
Oh, by the way, once a hunter of Pokémon always a hunter. I am just waiting for the right time to ask my 14-year old son for a tutorial!
Thanks for reading, liking and sharing.
Al and his faithful sidekick, Ivy the wonder pup.