Zelda Life Lessons: Realizing the Power of the Pause
Fans of the Legend of Zelda game series have been playing versions of it since 1986 when it was introduced in Japan. Every iteration of the game, from the original version for the Nintendo game console through Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom has a baseline function with some next-level symbolism. In fact, it’s so subtle that players may have missed it as a potentially life-changing metaphor. Let’s peel back the onion and reveal this powerful insight from the world of Zelda to see how it can provide a fresh perspective on every single interaction you have for the rest of your life.
In truth, I’ve not really played Zelda because I’m not into games with battles (yes, this means that most games are unappealing to me). However, I have spent dozens of hours watching my husband explore the Kingdom of Hyrule in its many forms. I’ve enjoyed the beautiful landscapes and creative dialogue vicariously and gotten much enjoyment from it. I’ve even occasionally helped him navigate the large landscape worlds of modern games, and while watching him play recently, something powerful dawned on me. There are life lessons hidden in the Zelda games!
Hitting Pause
If you’re familiar with the series, you know there is always a moment when a threat approaches that you can hit “+” to pause the gameplay and visit your arsenal. Link picks up all manner of weapons (both offensive and defensive), protective gear, clothing, food for sustenance and increasing health, as well as potions that can perform all manner of trickery. Link can even combine ingredients and prepare special recipes that give him extra health and vitality.
Gearing Up
Switching to the screen where you can shop this arsenal and “gear up” for whatever is next is frequent and common in this game. It’s necessary every few minutes as he roams around encountering puzzles and baddies. Until recently, I always thought it utter ridiculousness that Link was able to, upon seeing an enemy approach, enter his arsenal and spend as long as he likes calculating what combination of gear to wear, swords and shields to employ, and food to eat to make sure he’s battle-ready. He could be in there for the rest of time leaving the foe to stand there like a goober and wait for him to return.
Found in Translation
In real life, we don’t have the opportunity to hold up a hand to a foe and say, “Excuse me, Stone Talus, could you please wait there before you lambast me and pause indefinitely so that I may arm myself properly and attempt to wallop you?”
Life moves much faster than this, and it always felt like an unfair advantage that Link gets to pause. This gameplay feature felt like cheating until it dawned on me that I was completely wrong.
Zelda Life Lessons
Yes, it’s true that life happens in real time, and that many circumstances require us to take immediate action. We must be hypervigilant when driving and operating heavy machinery. We don’t get a do-over when driving across a bridge or performing surgery. And yet, there are certainly many more frequent events that are less life or death in which we can employ the power of the pause and access our storehouse. Many such events involve conversations and confrontations such as:
Having a difficult conversation
Asking for something that you know you deserve
Communicating a boundary and enforcing it
Giving notice, saying “no,” or expressing a need that others may not understand
We do have the power to pause the game, take a few minutes, and come back once we’ve geared up for the conversation. At any moment, we can say:
I’d like to think about this and get back to you
I need to step away from this conversation, but I’ll come back soon so we can continue
I’ll consider what you’ve said and let you know when I decide
We can all give ourselves permission to press “+”, which can look like leaving the room and finding a quiet spot to think. In more serious situations where a threat is evident, we can absolutely hit pause, even as the big, scary enemy approaches, and go to our armory and make ready for battle. Not everything is a battle, but the same logic applies to non-threatening situations where we still want to take a beat and come back when we feel ready. We can explore our feelings to help understand them or make a pro/con list in a journal to help us make wise decisions. We can consult a friend, or pause to pray and reflect.
The pause we afford ourselves can make all the difference between making a reactive decision we regret and giving our inner wisdom the space it needs to make itself known.
Stockpiles and Serenity
This realization has meant everything to me. I understand now that I hadn’t realized my own power; hadn’t acknowledged that I have my own inner stockpile with me at all times. My default setting had been to go into every interaction only using whatever I had on my back at the time, and it left me feeling underprepared, vulnerable, and at the mercy of the forces around me. I never gave myself permission to stop the clock or take pause. I had only ever played my own life in real-time, and it wasn’t until Link showed me that I recognized this self-sabotage and understood there is a better way.
I have realized that my arsenal is always with me; I am learning when and how to access it. I’m also adding to my offensive/defensive tools and building up a repository of restoratives and “potions” to use when I’m running low on health or power, or generally feeling run down. I’m allowing myself to pause before I continue, and step away to find what feels right and true, and ponder what resonates with me. When you realize you hold the game controller, you take ownership of yourself as a first-person protagonist. Now that is some “higher self” energy.
Questions to Ponder
When and how do you allow yourself the time and space to choose?
What tools do you hold at the ready, and which ones can you access as needed?
How can you build up a healthy supply of resources and “potions” to augment your inner sanctum?
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