Mario Bros: A Story of Perseverance
Keep on going, no matter how many stages you have ahead of you.
Want to hear a cool story? When I was a kid our neighbor at that time, knocked on my front door. I was about six and it was December time. Much to my surprise my neighbor was carrying what is now known to be one of my biggest passions; he was carrying a Nintendo Entertainment System (NES, or also known as the machine that was able to play “The Mario Game”). He asked my father for 20$ and in that very moment I knew I wanted it, and guess what, I got it!
What is behind this jibber jabber, you might ask. Well it turns out that, there, in the impervious calm of my comfy living room, from some random collection of pixels on screen that managed to obey solemnly every command, as my tiny fingers pushed several buttons in perfect timing, I learned one valuable lesson that still lingers in my daily life: perseverance.
I know, it might not be as clear to everyone at this point, but sit tight (or read tight), background is coming. The story of Mario is simple, he is a plumber that has to save his love interest (the Princess) from the evil Bowser who has kidnapped her. The hardship of this is that every time you travel through a whole landscape and reached a castle, waiting at the end of the fight with the castle lord, was a humble servant with a letter saying “The Princess is in another castle”. The same thing happens 7 times, on the eight attempt, Mario finally defeats Bowser and receives a kiss from his beloved princess.
What would have happened if at the fifth time of being disappointed Mario decided not to continue his quest on pursuing his goal, what if it was the seventh time and victory was only one step away? Even in a fictional world of a very old-schooled game, lies one of the truest keys to success, perseverance. Some of our goals take quite an effort, and the ones that are really worth pursuing take even more dedication. The way you keep working towards an ideal or goal no matter the misfortunes on the road is defined as perseverance.
How many of our princesses are still locked down on a castle because we pushed the reset button on the console of our lives, even though we were in “World 7” and the epic quest was almost one step to its ending. Perseverance takes courage and belief in ones ideal, and even if the ending isn’t as gratifying as Mario’s, you will have the reward of staying true to yourself and never stopping.
Let’s follow the road to our own epic journeys as we did when we sat around that old TV set, with the total faith we had on ourselves as we did when we were just kids. Who knows, maybe you are one stage away from your princess or prince. Grab the controller of your life, hit the start button, play and enjoy until the very last stage!
This is one of the most personal articles I’ve ever written, hope the reader and the editors fester on the lessons this humble servant learned from such iconic culture icon. – Cristian Aguilar
Dedicated to all the gaming community! Let’s keep on learning from our passions!
