It was commonly understood in my family that my Great Aunt was an adrenaline junkie.

She didn't jump out of airplanes or tame lions, but she lived in a self-imposed, constant state of deadlines.  She was always hurrying from one overlapping project to the next and we finally understood that she enjoyed that heightened state of pressure.

Fast forward to taking my mother's suit to the dry cleaners this morning…

In by 9a out by 5p is their guarantee and my mom has to have that suit for an interview tomorrow, but I'm not going to make it to them before 9:10!

Dump the Adrenaline and Haul Ass!  Sick Kira in the car and a phone call to the cleaners and they are going to hold that load for us. We're saved, but I still have adrenaline coursing thru my veins and I remembered my Great Aunt Ruthie.

The Adrenaline is a drug of course, but it wasn't just the heightened sensation she enjoyed.  It was the deadline, the rush of the impossible deadline, the challenge of a concrete goal and the satisfaction of completion.

Isn't that what makes gaming fun?  She was ahead of her time 3 generations!

Games are how we learn as children, but they are also how we challenge ourselves and find a reason for living.  The same stuff day in and day out is hardly stimulating, but the rush of a project that matters ads zest to life and can change the world.

No one says it better than Jane McGonigal at the Ted Talks, so I'm going to let her say it to you herself…