There are a couple of thing that I do differently, the one that people around me find hard to wrap their head around is that I rarely watch television. I even tell people that if I were to design my dream home there will be no television in it, the only reason I have one presently is because it was gifted to me. Please don’t ask me why as I have no idea myself. Although, I sometimes blame it on my parents for having a monochrome television when I was younger. Anyway, I digress, this is a story for another day.
Squid game has been the buzz on social media for a moment, I could swear that it was one of those hyped shows with basic storyline until I was at an important meeting at work (discussing security and shows do not mix) and my colleague hinted it. Everyone on the call started eulogising the show so I got peer pressured into watching it. Lucky me!
This show is phenomenal, it reiterated a lot of lesson I have learned over the years and I did pick up some new lessons along the way. Here are the lessons I learned:-
Don’t be greedy
The main reason everyone got into the game in the first place was attributed to greed. They could have all been satisfied with the money they got from the train station and put it to good use. Nothing good in life comes as easy as one think sometimes. While i’m not an advocate for working hard, working smart too does involve mental agility which has nothing to do with free or easy riches. Every decision has it’s own consequences but again, depends on how much risk you are willing to take.
When you feel like you are losing and you have did all you could, Strike a deal!
This is a major life lesson, one has to be flexible sometimes in life even when you know that you deserve a hundred percent of the reward. Sometimes, things don’t go as planned. Actually a lot of times! When faced with a situation that mirrors a win or lose situation and you have the ability to cut a deal, make a deal! If you get greedy, you may be left with nothing.
The scene that reiterated this was when the pick pocket thief (Sae-byeok) was not sure she was going to make it due to the glass injury and told Seong about her sibling. Before that scene, I do not recall her opening up to him. If she never told him about her brother, she could have died and the brother would be left in the same situation that brought her to the game in the first place.
Good people will always be good no matter the situation
I fell in love with Seong character, he was a good person who just had bad habits aka gambling. He actually meant well and even when it was obvious that it’s was a game, he remained a good person. At the final scene, when it was obvious that he could miss his flight to meet the most important person in his life, he still felt he had a responsibility to save people from entering the game at the train station. He kept all the promises he made to his colleagues, this is indeed rare in a world where self absorbency is dressed up as self love.
Although, some people would argue that he lied to the old man while they were playing Gganbu, let’s not forget the old man made it to that the game because he was not going to let him die due to not having a partner. That’s survival! I have come across some people in my life that are just good people and they could not behave differently even if a situation demanded that of them.
Never let the enemy or competitor know your weakness
There is a reason why most businesses have trade secrets, the moment the competitor knows about what keeps your business profitable they take advantage and maximise their market share at the expense of your intellectual property. If Sang woo didn’t see that Sae-byeok was hurt he would not have taken advantage of the situation by killing her.
Disappointment is a disguised blessing most of the time
Disappointments are blessings in disguise, whenever something does not go as planned, I don’t even get mad anymore, it’s always something bigger coming. Personally, the bigger the disappointment, the more the reward or blessing, there is always something big coming. This manifested when Han Mi-nyeo could not partner up with someone during one of the games and we all thought she was going to die. As fate would have it, she was better off not playing, I actually liked her character.
There are people who would never want you to fail
Sometimes, it may seem like the odds are stacked against us and everyone is out there to get us but I’ve learned that there are actually people who do not want you to to fail, not because something is in it for them but because they just would like to see you win, they believe in you or connect with your story.
Again, this was reiterated during the Gganbu game when Ji-Yeong had Sae-byeok tell her about her life and she determined Sae-byeok needed the money more than her, she chose not to play and died. She would not have done that if she thought Sae-byeok was weak or did not believe in her.
Never trust anyone
There is a saying that humans are the weakest form of defense, yes we are indeed. Our ability to think fuels our uninformed decisions in situations that could endanger our lives. There was no reason for Abdul Ali trusting Sang woo, there was no reason for the police dude going to the game to rescue his brother, his brother went there willingly even if it did not turn out that he was the one running the show. There was no reason for Hang Mi-nyeo trusting Deok-su to be there for her. It’s all about the survival of the fittest.
When all the chips are down, 99% of the time the people you expect to have your back will never be there, it’s always that person you least expect that saves the day. Have no expectations of anyone and never trust anyone.
No-one is totally happy
There is a saying that the rich also cry, everyone has one thing that they are unhappy about. If we were all told to share our problems and we had visibility into other peoples problems, trust me you will stick to yours.
Your neighbour that you see pulling up in Ferrari, owns a multi million dollar business or the ones you drool over their pages on social media with all the finest thing, they all have their problems and here is the kicker the more successful you becomes the bigger the challenges that comes with it.
This was evident at the scene when the old man finally owned up to orchestrating the game along with his friends due to lack of ideas on how to spend their money. He had all that money and could not buy himself a longer life and other great things that you would imagine comes with that astounding wealth. Being successful is easy, staying successful is where the real work lies. Does this ring a bell?
You don’t know what you can do until you are faced with the exact situation
When everyone voted out and they went back home, they all had different situations in life that made them go back to the game. Although, I had stated it was greed but if I were faced with the exact situation, It still would not be as easy as making a black or white decision.
Love and Light
