The Epic Win

I've been playing Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty, as I imagine a few million people have, but when I came across the Epic Win blog post on Eu.Battle.net, I paused and reflected with a cup of coffee. From the blog post:

...Epic wins can take on many forms. Occasionally, an epic win will follow a long string of defeats; after fighting what seems to be an impossible battle, you’re able to come from behind and claim a last-minute victory for yourself or your team. Other times, an epic win is the culmination of several perfect in-game actions: your APM is high, your build orders are precision-timed, your micro and macro are flawless -- everything falls into place as if predestined, and when you come out victorious, you sort of just want to sit back, put your hands behind your head, and say to yourself “yeah, that was awesome.”...

It doesn't just apply to Starcraft II. It applies to life. Sometimes things come together just right or you manage to work your way through a problem that initially seemed unsolvable. Hackers- real hackers, the ones who don't 'hack sites' - know what this feels like. Mountain climbers know what this feels like. It's a personal achievement, something that can't really be shared because of the nature of the personal achievement. For some it could be simply clearing their desk. It could be finally figuring out how to HDR on your own (image at top right), it could be landing the right job at the right time. It could be anything.

But not everyone sees Epic Wins. First, you have to decide to view something as a challenge and you accept the challenge, even when - especially when - the odds are against you.

Life is just the stuff that happens between Epic wins, and if that's not the case for you then we really don't have that much commonality. ;-)