I have a vivid memory of riding my Huffy bike through my neighborhood a cool October day in 1992. Some of my peers were outside playing basketball near their carport, and I had to pass them in order to get home. I hated and feared basketball. It was a sport that seemed to unmercifully highlight every awkward, nonathletic quality I possessed. I tried to ride by unnoticed, but my heart sank when I heard the other guys call, "Hey Seth!"

"Yeah?"

"Where you going?" they asked, snickering.

"Um...home?" I replied sheepishly.

"You going to go play a video game or something?"   

I kept riding after that. They'd framed their question as an insult, and I didn't know what to say. So, I just kept pedaling. They continued to play basketball, and I went home...and probably played a video game. 

If I take an honest look at my life, I think that I did form a habit of diving into media in order to escape the pain that comes with growing up. Growing, both physically and mentally, is never easy. It's taxing, and for a sensitive kid like me, it often felt overwhelming. The weight of inadequacy was a stone that I pushed around for years until I finally grew more confident. Movies, books, and video games were great places for me unwind, to forget about myself and my problems, and to safely consider what I would do in different situations had the world shuffled the cards differently.

Video games are good that way: They let you be the hero (or occasionally the villain), and you, the player, becomes an incredible force that changes the world. It might seem narcissistic, but I really believe it's a natural need within our psyche that video games have the potential to fill. We all want our contributions to matter. It's important to us that the things we do in our life have an impact, whether positive or negative. We are all looking for some way to contribute to society, if only to justify why we are taking up space on Earth. Video games give us a way to synthetically create those feelings.

Let me be quick to say that not everyone who enjoys video games is a cowardly introvert struggling with the day-to-day grind of life. I don't believe that, and it doesn't even really reflect my own reality. I do think that video games are capable of subconsciously rendering these feelings for us, which is what can make them seem so "addictive" to outsiders. If this is true, than gamers have more potential to change the world than anyone else.

Take Penny Arcade's charity Child's Play, for example. This charity alone showcases the amazing amount of potential energy stored in the gaming community. As of 2009, Child's Play has raised $1,780,870.40 to help provide toys and video games to sick kids in hospitals. These are tools that can help them cope as they go through the uncomfortable process of healing. It's an amazing idea that blends our enthusiasm for our hobby with the needs of children who truly deserve some time off from reality!

Another example is Folding@home on the PS3. We all know that Sony designed the PS3 to do everything, but I find it very interesting that Sony implemented this feature into their console. What is it, you ask? By accessing the Folding@home program under the Life with PlayStation icon, your PS3 becomes one of millions of other machines around the world computing simulated protein folding. This is research that could potentially lead to the cure of many diseases like Alzheimer's, Lou Gehrig's, Huntington's, Parkinson's, and many different cancers.

A few months ago, I was feeling pretty down. I wasn't satisfied, my job seemed stale, and more or less, I was just in a rut. I was unhappy because I felt so powerless. Noting my behavior, my wife pointed me in an odd direction: She works for a local charity that raises money for cancer research mainly by promoting cycling events in Charlotte, NC. Personally, I don't cycle -- even though this story started with me on a bike -- but I think it's cool. Anyway, my wife found something that any man riddled with enough testosterone to grow facial hair can participate in: Movember. The challenge with Movember is to grow a mustache (a "mo") during November to raise awareness and funds that go directly to the Lance Armstrong Foundation and the Prostate Cancer Foundation. 

At the time of this writing, it's Movember 3, and the beginnings of my ‘stache are coming in. The funny thing is that despite how silly it is, I feel much better with my life now that I'm doing something for somebody other than me.

So, if you have been surfing around the Mobfeed today, avoiding work, and looking for something that will make your existence more significant, then listen to this: A game is just a game, and no matter how awesome it is, it's going to get stale eventually. Remember to go out there and get involved in something that is bigger than you -- the sooner the better. Instead of throwing down 60 bucks on the latest and greatest, buy a well-reviewed used game that you missed out on and split the difference with a charity you care about. Whether it's the local soup kitchen, your place of worship, Child's Play, the Salvation Army, or the hairy oddity that is Movember, start doing something. You'll feel better about life and gain some perspective.