Using my interests to motivate me to do other things. Maybe a little too much.

The Great Indoors

For a very long time, I haven’t had the motivation to go outside. There simply wasn’t any reason for me to do so. Other than mental and physical health and seeing new things… I didn’t care about that.

It wasn’t even necessarily just because of motivation. I was afraid. It was during this time in my life that I was fearing the worst of everything.

Because of this, memories from even years back would flood my mind. I recalled all the awkward encounters, public embarrassments, and grouchy people I had run into.

And of course, viewing all those “Karen” videos on the internet certainly wasn’t helping the situation.

If I decided to go outside, there was so much adversity I could run into. I thought relentlessly about all these scenarios which could occur if I were to go out.

Some nosy person could pop out of nowhere and start questioning me like I was up to something.

Crime was making its usual waves in the news. I could get mugged. Or beaten up into a pulp. And what benefit would I get in return?

I could exercise right in the comfort of my own home.

I mean I didn’t, but I could have…

And cherry on top, there was the pandemic. I certainly did not want the virus. So because of all of these fears, there was absolutely, positively no reason I ever needed to go outside.

If there wasn’t something really interesting going on, like a lunar eclipse or a building fire, there was no way I was going out into that big scary open world alone.

But despite all this, I knew that remaining this reclusive for so long wouldn’t be good for me. So I tried to encourage myself to face those fears and just go the heck outside for once in my life.

The Game Of Life

I liked playing video games during my teenage years. I still do somewhat, though not to the extent I used to play them. I’m now more into making them myself.

But anyway, before the pandemic, I had played geolocation games like Pokemon GO fanatically.

After I got a new phone, I still used the old one to multitask between PoGo and Harry Potter Wizards Unite (sucks that it shut down, I was like level 35). Then, I also used the split screen feature on the new phone to also be able to play Ingress.

I’m definitely writing about this some other time.

However, ever since the pandemic hit, I found myself playing these games less and less until I eventually quit entirely. But maybe it was time to pick one up again.

It turns out, not only could I play these games to motivate myself to go outside, but I could also get paid for it.

Going On A Hunt

I found this game called Coin Hunt World, where you could answer these trivia questions and earn crypto for each right answer.

The game sounded really interesting, and it certainly wouldn’t hurt to make some scraps for my time. And so I picked it up and started playing.

I had set up a little string of blue user vaults along a path near my house. For context, vaults are where you insert keys you obtain through various activities to attempt to answer the questions.

If you get the question right, you get 10 cents worth of either Bitcoin or Ethereum for a blue vault. If you get it wrong, you lose the key and get nothing.

Bzzzzzt. Loser.

So with my account and another family member’s, I had a route I could take with 20 blue user vaults along the way.

Provided I had enough keys to complete the route, I could make $2.00 if I got everything right.

And if I went out right before the reset period, I could double dip on my way back and make $4.00 in total. Definitely not bad at all, for just a single walk.

I was doing it occasionally, but it wasn’t a strong enough motive to get me outdoors every single day.

But still, it was better than nothing.

Buddy Quests

However, there’s another feature of the game called Buddy Quests. Buddy Quests are randomly triggered with someone on your friend list, and you have a limited time to complete them.

Essentially, there are these points of interest called Print Shops (I think, it’s been a while). When a buddy quest is triggered, one of these shops within a couple of miles of your location will turn into this seesaw thing.

There are little indicators on the screen telling you which direction the seesaw is.

And all you need to do is go find it.

When the two of you find your respective seesaws, you just need to tap on them at the same time, and you get a yellow key. And that yellow key can be redeemed at a yellow vault for a chance at $10.

However, the first trivia question in a yellow vault is always the same. So you can know the answer beforehand by looking it up online and getting that $10 is guaranteed. Provided you don’t have sausage fingers.

0 Miles From Home, The Quest Begins

After a couple of weeks of waiting, I finally received a notification that I had gotten the Buddy Quest. Along with another family member, we set off the find our respective seesaws.

We started from our house and followed the pulsating indicators along the trail. It wasn’t too far, and I was sure that I would see it appear on my left as soon as I reached the end of the trail.

Each step brought me further away from home, but closer to my destination.

Well, so I thought.

1.3 Miles Later

We ended up walking the whole way to the end of the trail, right onto a major roadway through the city. And there was still no seesaw in sight.

I made a guess that the goal was actually behind us, but because we were only able to move parallel to the pulses it was still out of visible range.

It’s got to be close, right?

We could just follow the main road, get to the other side into that residential area, and be on our way home in a few minutes.

And so we turned left after the trail and made our way down the busy road. Soon I would see the thing, I’d tap it, and we would be done.

2.5 Miles From Home

Things were getting a bit worrisome at this point. While I had driven down this road many times, I had never gone so far on foot.

And remember, I’m a complete shut-in. My stamina was terrible.

Regardless, I had already covered the distance. Surely, it had to be just a little bit past here.

And so, the two of us passed the familiar golf course. It continued to recede into the distance as we moved further and further away.

3.2 Miles And Still Going

It takes the average person around fifteen to twenty-two minutes to walk a mile, according to Google search. So that means that at this point, we had been going for about 40 minutes to an hour.

I mean, when you put it like that, it doesn’t sound like much. But remember… out of shape.

We had gone all the way to the bottom of this steep incline. And we were now actually in the downtown area of the city.

It’s a suburban city, so it’s not really super busy or anything.

The weather was only getting warmer as the day progressed. I was starting to feel that sweat come in.

And there was still no sign of that freakin’ seesaw.

But A Little More Effort…

Finally, a glimpse of hope appeared in front of me.

As we walked a little further through the “downtown” area, it appeared.

The majestic seesaw had finally revealed its presence to us.

Finally, after over a full hour of walking, I would be able to get that yellow key and go home.

Ten whole gosh darn dollars in the bank for me. I’m set for life now.

*whisper whisper whisper*

What?

What do you mean you don’t see it?

It’s right over there. In the shopping center.

It’s right over there. Literally, the-

I looked at my companion’s phone and saw that the little directional blips were still going wild. And where on my screen I had seen a seesaw, on their screen was…

An ordinary print shop.

So, it turns out that it’s not guaranteed that you both get the exact same seesaw. Which I guess makes sense, considering you’re supposed to be able to do this with people all around the world.

But what that meant was… we weren’t done yet.

We still had to keep going to find the other seesaw.

4.2 Miles Away From Home

My breathing was getting quite heavy. The accumulating lactic acid was definitely starting to have an effect on me.

Heck, I couldn’t go on any more.

No, like actually. There was literally nowhere else to go.

The only thing ahead of us was a mountain and a preserve. And right now, we were passing over a busy highway. Cars were just roaring by in droves.

What was the purpose of this journey anyways? Why had I been so tempted by the allure of monetary gain? I just wanted this to end.

It looked like we were either about to reach a dead end, or we’d start having to traverse this mountain.

I was not looking forward to a hiking trip at this moment.

But thankfully, the roads branched off after the bridge. And a new path was revealed, allowing us to continue to the left. Closer to the goal we had both been striving toward.

Yay….

It Never Ends

It was nothing but a long, straight road from there.

There were no cars driving around nor was there a semblance of life in the area. All there was, was a path to continue following.

I couldn’t tell if I was even moving forward anymore. Everything looked the same. I was so tired of walking and walking. Did the seesaw even exist? Was I being blindly led on by this… game?

Maybe I was the seesaw. That’s it… the real seesaw was inside me all along.

Pins and needles prickled my legs for a moment. But at some point, it just stopped, and the fatigue was starting to recede. Maybe I just no longer cared about it.

I might not make it home tonight. This is the last you’ll ever hear from me.

I-…

Just Run Now

I started just running.

I kept going and going, pushing forward as hard as I could. I was struggling so hard to catch my breath, but I didn’t care. This self-induced nightmare was almost over. The end was in sight.

I could finally see my family again.

I don’t know how long I kept running back toward that other seesaw. Probably at least 15 minutes. I was exceeding my limits and felt like I was going to die.

I made it back to the bridge and crossed over the highway. All the way back to the downtown area, where the shopping mall was now back in sight.

That stupid seesaw from before popped into view. Teetering on the edge of sanity, I tapped it and waited for many excruciating minutes. I was anticipating the moment that would declare this was finally over.

And then finally… at long last…

Victory

5.8 miles later, plus another 1.9 miles backtracking, it was over. I had my yellow key. I was hyperventilating and was bound to collapse at any moment.

Fortunately, there was still plenty of time for me to recoup my energy before the other person got back here as well. And so I was able to recover.

Yeah, no. I still felt like throwing up. This was a living hell.

This was not worth it at all.

But, what was done, was done. All we had to do is make the journ-

…UGHHHHHHHHH

The… journey… back home.

Well, better start walking, buddy.

A Big Ouchie

As soon as we rendezvoused back to where I was, I just started slowly stumbling my way back. Every step forward was one less that I had left to take.

Never before had I felt such physical exhaustion. And it was not surprising I was feeling this way, as I had just gone from not exercising for who knows how long to covering the equivalent distance of a 10K.

So maybe it’s also not too surprising what happened a few blocks later. I thought my fatigue had gone away. And it had, but there was a very bad reason why.

Suddenly, a continuous onslaught of pain went through my left leg. It felt like it was getting twisted up from the inside while being electrocuted.

Yeah, I had sprained my left leg.

I had to sit down on the curb and just wait for the pain to subside. And so there I sat awkwardly, as a bunch of cars from the road continued to pass by me.

There were still at least another four miles to go. No way I could do that in this state. So another family member ended up having to be called to pick us up.

Eventually, some time passed and I was able to get up and put some weight on it. Or maybe it was just adrenaline blocking the pain. I progressed a couple of more blocks.

Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow.

We reached the intersection we needed to cross to get to the mall parking area, where our ride would be. And that’s when it happened again.

This time, I felt it coming up in my right leg. But I was in the middle of crossing the street, so I couldn’t stop.

I did some weird balance shifting and whatever else it took to get across the street at least. The feeling mostly subsided by the time I got to the other side. Or maybe again, it was because of the adrenaline.

Ow ow. Ow ow.

I was able to double limp the rest of the way to the parking lot, where the van was waiting. And that was the end of the journey.

Home Sweet Home

I couldn’t walk up the stairs properly for like three days. The left sprain was far worse, so I basically had to rely on old righty to get around.

But while it didn’t hurt as bad, my muscles had still been seconds away from playing Twister. So it definitely didn’t not hurt.

The funny thing is, I never ended up using that key. I couldn’t be bothered to actually go to any of the yellow vault locations to redeem the crypto. It was just way too much of a detour.

So basically, I injured myself for nothing.

I never even considered in my life that I had actual physical limits that couldn’t be overcome with just willpower alone.

I’ve played Pokemon GO and walked around for six hours before. But I guess to be fair, I had been doing that for a while. It’s not like I had gone from level -25 to level 400 in the span of hours.

So, yeah. Not really much else to say about this event. There’s definitely some sort of lesson hidden in this absolute mess of a story. I guess it would be something like…

Something something, “I should incorporate more of my interests into other things I normally wouldn’t do in order to motivate myself to do them.”

Etcetera, etcetera.

Something something, know your limits, money isn’t everything. I’ve got nothing.

Nothing but broken legs.

The story’s over. You can go now.