They Tell You To Not Meet Your Heroes...

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To The Story.. 

I met my hero five years ago at Gen Con - a very large tabletop gaming convention. 

As you could imagine, I was CRAZY excited and super nervous to meet this man. He's essentially everything I wanted to be, which is someone who has created for himself a life he loves working with games. 

I was thankful he took the time out to speak to me.

At that time I was much smaller in the gaming industry then I am now (I'm still tiny, but back then I was like super tiny) and I essentially complained to him about my lack of success, placing blame on where I was born for my lack of opportunity.

You see, if you're in South Carolina, the gaming industry isn't exactly booming. There's a lack of anything gaming when compared to other states. I was born out in the "middle of nowhere." So, if you ever watched Courage the Cowardly Dog, you'd get a good sense of what it was like where I lived. 

Anyways, my hero responded very bluntly and said (and I'm paraphrasing here), "So? You don't think anyone else at this gaming convention has had problems? There's plenty of people that are born in small towns. It doesn't mean it's an excuse to not have your games made or be successful."

Wow

He essentially told me that there's no excuse why I didn't have my games more developed. No excuse except one that is...me. 

I was blown away initially by hearing this and even saddened.

I was expecting him to tell me, "I understand." I wasn't expecting him to put the blame on me! 

So where am I going with all of this?

My hero was completely right. I can't shift the blame on others or other factors in my life. Sure, there's many challenges, but that's to be expected. It's up to us to overcome and take responsibility for what we do or even don't do.

With that, I wanted to say thank you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading along, being a part of my journey, and helping me publish my first card game ever - Spellslingers!

There have been many times I've felt hopeless, abandoned, lost, or the challenges too great, but thanks to you, it's all been worth it.

If you happened to miss the Kickstater for Spellslingers, but are looking for a family friendly card game that uses strategy and magic, you can order your deck online here. 

Already have your copy? Thank you! Mind giving this article a share and telling your friends about it? After all, I couldn't do this without you. :)

So adventurer?! Have you ever met someone you looked up to? What sort of advice or nuggets of wisdom did they give you? I'd love to know! You can respond to this email or reach me @TheVindicated on Twitter.

Until next time!
Vincent