The Squid Game and Life 1.0

September 28, 2021

Time of writing: 2 pm 09/27/21

Who doesn't know the Squid Game drama?

Everyone certainly heard about this trending survival and mysterious drama TV series of South Korea. The drama is about a group of 456 people who are financially unstable in life with huge unpaid debts. They are all invited to play in a bizarre game for the winning prize of 45.6 Billion Korean Won.

The games were based on Korean traditional children's games but with bloody twists. All participants need to risk their lives just to survive in the game and win the prize in the hope of eradicating their debts in life and attaining better lives.

I have longed to watch this series ever since I saw a post about it and I got curious why it is trending not only on different social media but also on noisecash and readcash. Several blogs and reviews were already posted by different users which gave me spoiler alerts and convinced me to watch the drama. And I finally had a great time watching the drama last Saturday night and the whole Sunday morning.

Based on the circulated photos around social media, you could hold a grasp of the happenings inside the game and I knew from the beginning that there would be morbid episodes. But as I watched the whole drama, the moral lessons outnumbered the bloody episodes.

As much as I don't want to give spoiler alerts here for those who have not watched yet, I still can't move on from this drama and so I opted to write something down about it. The drama is not just about the game, but the lessons you'll get from watching it, and how each game reflects our lives in the real world.

The drama consists of 6 different games with valuable lessons at the end of each episode.

Game 1: Red Light, Green Light

The goal of this game is to cross the line at the end of the playing area before the allocated time ends. Players should move when it's green light, and stop when it's red light. Anyone who'll get caught moving will be eliminated from the game. Unexpectedly, those who didn't follow the rules were completely eradicated from the game and the world, because they received gunshots.

Lessons:

Our life itself is a game that we need to surpass and we have different rules to deal with in this world, even just walking on the streets, crossing the road, traveling, buying at the supermarkets, in school, in our workplace, and even in our houses and relationships.

There isn't such a game without any rules. But some greedy, impatient, and insubordinate individuals would break them, and would even step on other people just to attain the success they want. They would do everything to win the game by any means.

Unfortunately in some cases, impatient and disobedient people ended up falling into the black hole, where there isn't any way to survive. So if you don't want to fall off the cliff, be cautious in every step you take, and follow the right path.

If you want to cross the road, then you have to wait for the green light. And if you want to achieve success, be a good listener, follow the rules, and grind and strive to win the game of life.

The world is a perilous place and having a strong body isn't enough to survive in this dark and chaotic world and conquer the obstacles in our way. Sometimes, our weakness is the main reason why we are losing a certain game and failing to pass through a certain dark path.

We need not only a strong body, but emotional and mental strength, so we could face and overcome our fear, surpass the obstacles, cross a dark path, and win any tremendous battle of life.

Another lesson is "unexpected things happen when you least expect them, so always be vigilant." The bloody twists and gunshots in this game were unexpected. Because of their fear to die, players run for their lives and disobey the rules that lead them to unexpected death. We should always be vigilant, and cautious in whatever we do, wherever we go, to avoid falling into uncertainty and misfortune, or worse, the black hole of death.

One more thing, "do not go to a war without enough bullets in your pocket." I am not literally talking about bullets and war, I am referring to enough knowledge before diving into the battlefield. Players of Squid Game don't have any knowledge about the game, yet they risk their lives for the sake of getting the prize, so many ended up falling into the black hole of death.

Game 2: Sugar Honeycomb

The goal of this game is to trim out the shape in the sugar honeycomb using a needle before the allocated time ends. The players who will break the shape in the honeycomb and fail to piece out the shape before the time ends will be eliminated.

Lessons:

The world is evolving so fast and people seem to be always in a hurry. From eating, walking, writing, reading, preparing things, getting information, even in making decisions and judgments. However, while rushing things, we ended up getting something out of our expectations.

Always remember that,

And when we are rushing things, we sometimes tend to lose our spirit especially if we are being pressured and distracted by the chaos around us and the obstacles our lives have thrown at us.

We can finish a certain task or reach a certain goal without losing our pace and inner peace. We can carve out things carefully so they won't break. And not because we have been told to do things the way they used to be done, doesn't mean that we can't do them in another way. Think smartly and find things out calmly when time seems to be short.

And sometimes, an unexpected result is not an accident, it is a product of an intellectual effort. Only if we don't rush things and think calmly about finding things out.

Life is not a race because it is a process. Sometimes it is better to slow down so we can appreciate the beauty around us and have fun on our journey of life. And most importantly, we could learn lessons along the way if we slowed down, and they are worth keeping. Do not be in a rush and always trust the process.

Another lesson I learned from this episode is "do not be selfish, pass the ball."

Sang-woo, the smart childhood friend of Gi-Hun was able to decipher his thoughts about the game but he opted to keep it from his team for the sake of winning the game.

If you know something that could save the lives of many, would you rather keep it just to save yourself? Do not be selfish, rather, pass the ball, because the real winners in real life are those who are not greedy and willing to help others without expecting something in return.

Aside from these lessons I mentioned above, there were more lessons that you could get especially in the first episode of the drama. One of these lessons include, "some people would go through obstacles, and sacrifice everything for the sake of their loved ones, and themselves."

Gi-Hun, the main character of the drama, risks his life for his mother and daughter. He hoped to give his mother a better life and be a good father to his daughter.

Sae-Byoek, the escapee of the North, risks her life for the sake of her brother, so she could give him a home and bring back her mother.

Sang-Woo, the smartest player of the game, risks his life so he could save back his reputation, a selfish love for himself.

Some people will do everything for the betterness of their loved ones. But some people will do everything for the sake of money and power. They will become greedy, cruel, and step on other people just to get ahead of the game, and achieve the things they wanted, the enormous prize.

This is only the first part of this article series about The Squid Game and Life. It's supposed to be up to 3rd game, but since I made a 9-minute reading article, I opted to cut out the 3rd game because readers might get bored, lol. More sets of lessons would be posted in the next two days😅.

Thanks for reading.