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I'm currently playing through a very old game, Final Fantasy Six, which I've borrowed from a friend and am enjoying it immensely. It's a game I played a long time ago, back in high school, but I never actually finished it.

My life has changed a lot this year, and now that I'm playing this Role Playing Game again, it has made me reflect on myself.

In a typical Japanese RPG storyline, your character normally starts out as a normal person in a rural village. Certain events usually transpire and the hero character usually has some kind of magic or power in them which gets unleashed. They then have to venture out into the wilds to save the world from the evil which involves encountering a lot of monsters and other interesting characters. Not to mention that they have to usually navigate the entire 'world' and see all the different and exotic locations.

With RPGs, as your character battles monsters and completes dungeons, they essentially become stronger and find better equipment.

Sometimes, many hours later, at the end of the game, we see our character return to their original village once they have saved the world. By the time they get back, they are unbelievably strong and have such good equipment and skills that their former selves literally pale in comparison.

I'm reflecting on whether this happens in real life...
Do people end up much better at the end of their life than they did at the beginning? Does the person we become clearly outshine what we started out as? I'm not talking about physical strength or magic spells, like in a Japanese RPG... I'm talking about the other relevant things we have in our lives. Examples: academic achievements, love and respect from other people, material items, etc.

I'm also talking about characteristics that we have inside ourself... do we become funnier with age? Develop a sharper wit? Become more compassionate? Increase our problem solving skills?
I guess we do as we go through childhood and our teenage years... but now I'm 23 - I wonder if I have essentially reached my peak or whether there is still room for me to grow.

I'm always going to strive to be the best person I can be and always seek to improve myself. Don't get me wrong, I love the person I am today... I just don't want to look back in five years time only to think, "Geez, they were the golden years".


...but isn't it a nice idea that you could just go out into the big wide world and come back ten times the person you were before?

Hi everyone,

I have just launched my new website to display my portfolio and attract some freelance business.

You can view it by clicking the following www.martinlivingstone.com.au

Feedback would be greatly appreciated!


Thanks again,
Martin