Why I’m Thankful for the Stress Tests in Life
I’m thankful for the stress tests of life.
Three weeks ago, my husband and I chose to spend our “date afternoon” together participating in a Guild Wars 2 stress test. Guild Wars 2 is a massively multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG) based around the story of the re-emergence of Destiny’s Edge, a guild dedicated to fighting and defeating the Elder Dragons who’ve once again taken over the world.
When Guild Wars 2 publisher ArenaNet announced the stress test on the Guild Wars 2 Facebook page, they explained, “We will be actively working on the game during the event, so you might experience connectivity problems or discover features that are not working as designed. Any issues you experience are a result of the rigorous conditions of the stress test, and are in no way representative of the state of the game at launch. By participating in this stress test, you’re helping us make Guild Wars 2 a better game.”
And we did find glitches as we played. I got disconnected twice. A few quests were bugged (in other words, didn’t work as they should). We also won’t be able to keep the characters we created for the stress test once the game actually launches.
But those stress tests are essential for a good game.
Stress tests provide information ArenaNet couldn’t get without putting pressure on the game. Until they applied that pressure, flaws and problems lay hidden. Ignorance of the problems kept them from fixing them.
They wanted to catch things in advance because if they didn’t and those problems showed up post-launch, it could ruin their game’s reputation. Games are a lot like people. They have a limited time to make a good first impression, and if they’re unpleasant to deal with, no one will hang around long. Even if you eventually fix the problems, people will be wary of you because the cloud of your past trails along behind you on the Internet. It takes much longer to fix a reputation than it does to build it up and keep it healthy in the first place.
We need stress tests in our lives for the same reasons. Each smaller trial we face—the flat tire, the failed project, the broken arm, the pinching pennies, even the minor successes—shows us weaknesses in our character. Are we impatient? Are we unmerciful? Do we blame someone else for what went wrong, or do we take responsibility? Are we a sore loser, coming up with reasons why that other person shouldn’t have gotten the job or shouldn’t have won? Are we a sore winner, gloating over the people we’ve beaten? Do we panic and take our fear out on our loved ones?
Once we know our weaknesses, we can work on fixing them.
The purpose of those stress tests in our lives is to prepare us for the important events. A terminally-ill loved one. A lost job. Getting the job we’ve always dreamed off. A successful book. Parenthood.
We don’t want to be caught unawares by our weaknesses when those hit. We want to be as prepared as possible so that we can do our best when it really matters.
By facing the stress tests, you’re helping make yourself a better person.
What “stress test” have you been thankful for in hindsight because it helped prepare you for something important down the road?
(I don’t know whether to thank Samantha Warren and Melinda VanLone for introducing me to this game or not 
I won’t completely geek out on you right now by talking about it in detail, but if you’re looking for a seemingly fantastic MMORPG that isn’t subscription-based, check out Guild Wars 2.)
Sep 10, 2012 @ 13:17:06
what an interesting post, Marcy. we all have stress tests. My biggest was probably leaving a 30 year marriage, while unemployed and starting menopause. Yup…that was walking into the fire. It was the right thing to do but oh my was it a test.
Sep 10, 2012 @ 13:29:14
I can’t even begin to imagine how frightening that was. You’ve clearly come out the other side stronger though
Sep 10, 2012 @ 15:56:28
I didn’t help out in the stress test, that must have been fun! I did with WoW, but not GuildWars2. I’m glad you like it
. I have to boot up in Bootcamp to play it so I haven’t played much. Love the graphics though, truly beautiful game.
As for real life stress tests…there’s been so many! My first job after college comes to mind. It was a sweatshop, truly horrible working conditions for next to no money. But it was a trial by fire…in the time I was there I learned more about my career than I would have anywhere else. By the time I left I knew it all, and the next job benefitted from all I’d learned. So it was stressful and awful, but the next 13 years were great because I had the confidence of knowing I could face anything that job threw at me.
Sep 11, 2012 @ 03:06:33
I would have loved to be in on the WoW stress tests. We didn’t even get a chance to participate in the beta because we couldn’t get the download to work.
Isn’t it amazing how sometimes we only see the benefit of what we’ve gone through in hindsight?
Sep 10, 2012 @ 16:14:44
This post reminds me of survival mode—the state our bodies and brains leap into during stress. We often feel sharper, more energized and have the ability to spot creative solutions with greater ease, assuming we don’t stop like deers in headlights.
Recently I had a stressful situation with an editor for one of my freelance writing clients. I felt his feedback was unprofessional and created major unnecessary time suck for both of us. But, I needed the money… One day I was so perturbed I wrote a tactful note to the head editor then sought spent time seeking other writing clients rather than revising an article to the other CE’s liking. I landed a new client the next morning, and it’s been a much better experience. I learned that trusting our instincts is particularly important under stress.
Sep 10, 2012 @ 16:55:34
I’m terrible at video games – like it’s truly appalling. However my life has felt like a giant stress test for the last 6 years – hopefully on the other side.
Sep 10, 2012 @ 20:01:30
I think part of why you’re such a strong, brave person is that you’ve weathered those stress tests.
Sep 10, 2012 @ 20:57:54
As the wife of a serious gamer, I often hear the complaints from him when he catches those spots in a game that could have been fixed before launch. Exciting you got to participate in the stress test!
My most recent major stress test was a few years ago. I work full time and was working on my master’s degree. I was panicking because my capstone project was a complete novel in four months. I didn’t think I could do it.
Someone told me about NaNoWriMo. I decided to try it and see just how much of a novel I could crank out in a month. I “won” and figured out that writing a novel worthy of the capstone in four months would be easier than I’d initially anticipated.
I don’t remember much from that month other than my husband thought the computer was a part of my body between homework and writing.
Great post Marcy!
Sep 11, 2012 @ 02:48:33
Hmm. I think most of my life has been one long stress test. Or at least one long string of them, with too little rest in between. Have they helped me prepare for other stressful things? Probably. Mostly I think they’ve helped make me grateful for the people in my life, the things I have (that actually mean something), and just to be here on this earth and living my life…stressful as it may be.
Video games, hmm? I’m so bad at them that my kids laugh at me. I do like 3D Mah Jongg, Scrabble and Spider Solitaire. Do those count?
Sep 11, 2012 @ 02:50:45
I think any games should count
And I agree. My stress tests have made me more grateful for the good things in my life. I think I definitely appreciate the little things more.
Sep 11, 2012 @ 03:52:56
I’m a Southern California girl. So when the snowstorm hit Seattle a few years ago I watched through the windows at work as it got deeper, and deeper. Ok, I had chains, but maybe it wasn’t so bad on the main roads, maybe they’d plowed them….
I got maybe 100 feet away from work and realized my SUV was not going to make it without the chains. Did I mention I’d never put them on before? I remember thinking this had to be some sort of rite of passage…putting on chains in the windy, blowing snow. Then driving home was easy, it only took me 6 hours to go 13 miles. Not because I was a wuss, no the vehicle handed great with chains on. No, it was everyone else who didn’t put chains on, who thought 4WD meant they could do 50 in a snow storm. Accidents snarled every major and minor route through Seattle. I had 1/4 tank of gas, but discovered that popping it in neutral conserved enough fuel that I was able to stay warm and still crawl home. I have no problem driving in snow now. Don’t like it, but luckily we just don’t get that much in Seattle.
Sep 12, 2012 @ 13:19:59
I learned my lesson about setting out in what sounds like a very similar snowstorm. I was two hours from home, but it took me eight hours to get there. Cars and trucks were in the ditches everywhere and I was extremely frightened I was going to end up with them, even in my 4-wheel drive truck.
Thankfully I made it home, but since then, if the weather is forecasting a lot of snow, I trust it rather than thinking I know better than the meteorologists
Sep 11, 2012 @ 13:11:58
Great analogy with the game.
If we never feel stress, how can we move forward and grow? I can look back at times when stress ruled my life (when I taught English and writing classes at a small business college is one example), I’ve learned so much from those experiences. Even if I couldn’t see it at the time, I gained confidence that helped me with other stress tests later.
Sep 12, 2012 @ 13:21:07
I agree. My husband and I have had a very stressful past three years. While I’m not happy about any of those stressful events, I am grateful for them, and in hindsight, I wouldn’t want to give up what they’ve taught me or the person they’ve helped me become.
Sep 12, 2012 @ 18:17:49
I hope I’m learning and growing a lot because I’m stressed (a lot) every single day. But it’s par the course as a mother of two unique individuals that present their own interesting challenges multiple times daily. Before that came into play and I had time to relax and play video games I recall finding those bugs. I once found one I couldn’t get out of without shutting the whole thing down. I fell into a vat of lava and my guy couldn’t jump or climb out, nor would he die. My only option was to hang out or shut it down. Cans of whoop ass were not helping me there. LOL!
Sep 12, 2012 @ 22:19:04
My husband just signed up for a beta of a new MMPORPG, so I’m familiar (secondhand) with the yelling that goes on when dealing with the “buggy beta version” of a game. It’s also that way with novels, though. Your beta readers are the ones who point out that it’s Tuesday two days in a row, or some other quirk you overlooked during revision.
The last couple weeks have definitely been a stress-test for me. My boss broke his collarbone and wrist (on separate arms). With him out of the office and a big deadline looming, I’ve been putting in a lot of extra hours. It’s made me realize how much I need to fight to carve out a space for my writing. In many ways, being so busy with my day job has motivated me to work harder to create a writing schedule–even though I’m not doing much writing these days.
Thanks for the well-timed post, Marcy!
Sep 12, 2012 @ 23:31:53
I got a good chuckle over you mentioning the yelling that goes on when dealing with the “buggy beta version.” I’m much more patient with those sorts of things, but my husband is extremely vocal.
“Are you kidding me?!”
“This is ridiculous!”
It’d be funny if I didn’t jump out of my skin each time
So true about beta readers for our books. I’m so grateful for the people who are willing to read the “buggy” copy to help make my work better