A Matter Of Attitude

Sofia, BG - As I may have mentioned, my first two weeks in Sofia was business and this last week is a vacation.  Of course, the weather during the last two weeks was beautiful, sunny with high temperatures between 20-25°C.  Of course, on Saturday, my first really free day, the rain and cold came. 

As I mentioned to a colleague on my first full day in Sofia, adventure is something bad happening to someone else.  But, really, how bad is a little rain?  Okay, what came down on Saturday wouldn't have been pleasant if I was walking home from the train station.  But I was in Sofia.  Did I mention I brought a rain coat and and umbrella?  So instead of staying in the hotel, I took a bit of a stroll to the City Center Sofia mall.

Walking the grounds of the National Palace of Culture was a bit different.  No skateboarders.  No bicyclists performing tricks.  No families taking a stroll.  No protests or political rallies.  Just a steady drizzle and a few others like me walking to and from stores, if the percentage of people carrying bags was any indication.  Perhaps if I lived in Sofia, I would have been wet and miserable.  But as I was just visiting, I was in the mood to take in new sights and have a good time.

I think Eve Online is very much like my experience in Sofia so far.  In the high-sec zone of Chicago and suburbs, a gusting wind and chilly temperatures are a bad thing.  In the lower-sec zone of Sofia, the rain is a different experience that brought a smile.  In New Eden, players take bad experiences, losing ships, in low and null sec a lot better than if they do in high-sec.

For a lot of players, myself included, geography dictates the style of play we expect to encounter.  High sec is "supposed" to be safe while all other areas are not.  Well, I don't expect high sec to be safe, just a bit safer, but hopefully you understand my point.  When people don't get what they expect, a lot of them get cranky and the tears come in buckets.  The trick is to not let where you are dictate your happiness but what you are doing.  And if you are happy in one place doing something, shouldn't you be happy doing that same thing everyplace?  I think that goes for life both inside and outside the game.