The Balancing Act
I work 7 days a week and I’m in college. I’ve lucked out by being part of a community that meets once a week for a night of pick-up games, so I know when and where I can pick up a game… if I’m not studying, recovering from my job, cooking/eating meals for/with my boyfriend, or assisting my mom – who just had a full knee replacement – around my folks’ house. It just comes down when all of those align perfectly, which isn’t terribly often.
It makes me wonder how some of the gentlemen I play with manage to get in a night a week when they have to work their gaming around their spouse’s schedule, their work schedule, and their kids’ schedule. Some of them have the added bonus of being in a college degree program of some sort on top of all of that. But they all seem to find the time to at least stop by and shoot the sh*t every week, if not pick up several games before the shop closes down.
And then there are those who not only have to deal with scheduling conflicts, but have to convince those in their lives that gaming is really that important. I’ve read about and seen more than a few situations like this. Sometimes it’s hard to convince a significant other, or various family members that spending a weekend at a tournament out of town is a good investment of your time and money. I think those of us that haven ‘t run into this situation count ourselves very lucky – my boyfriend plays 40k, so he gets after me when I don’t push the daemons around a table often enough.
How do you balance gaming with other aspects of your life? Have you ever had to explain why gaming is important to you to someone you care about in order to gain table time? What’s your formula and tips for getting in the playing you need.
