A Series of Choices
What I learned watching Beast Games
I just finished watching Beast Games on Prime Video. What brought me in was that I remembered reading about how MrBeast built a city in the area of Downsview outside of the Toronto core, which is a 15 minute drive from where I live.
What kept me watching though was how hilarious the contestants are, in all their cringey American nature.
Yet as the show dwindles 1,000 players down to 1, I began to see the genius in the whole thing.
How there is a metaphor here for something that I have written about many times in this newsletter.
A Series of Choices
MrBeast subjects the contestants to psychological torture which is no different than other human experiment shows like Survivor.
Yet he reminds them and the viewers that what you see before you is a series of choices that were made up until that point.
Choices that typically got the players to the next round, either by well-played strategy, luck, or simply staying quiet and out of everyone’s crosshairs.
There are moments that are difficult to watch. Where people are forced to make some hard decisions involving large amounts of money leveraged against close friendships. And then you might see these people break down crying.
Yet here is the rub: All these people made the choice to go on the show. They nominated themselves to take a stab at winning $5M dollars. They decided that whatever happens on the show is worth that amount of money.
They chose to not try to earn that amount of money through career moves or investments. Essentially, they chose to get rich quick.
They created the situations that they found themselves in, whether they liked it or not. They also were frequently given options for leaving the show, often with a bribe of money to walk away.
The amount of snow in Toronto right now is clunky. It’s hard to walk on sidewalks because most of them are still not cleared.
The elderly Italian crossing guard in his 80s that I’ve written about before has done an impeccable job clearing his sidewalk, while his neighbours who are likely half his age have done next to nothing.
I can complain about this all I want, but at some point, I have to remember that I chose to live in this city.
I’ve had many years to devise a plan to escape the snow, but I have weighed the good against the bad and decided that this city is a good spot to hang my hat, and this country is even better.
So what choices are you making every day? Where are they taking you in life?
What situations are you unhappy with, and what will it take for you to realize that you chose them in some way or another?
I will leave you with this controversial opinion, but one that I sincerely believe in or else I wouldn’t commit these words to paper:
Happiness is a choice.
Your thoughts become your reality.
Situations come and go, yet it’s the meaning you assign them that will decide if they bind to you or be set free.