Play the game.

The sound of phones ringing roared from the doorway, as the door opened, and the employee reluctantly came into the office. An old man sitting on a leather chair with a greybeard flickered his newspaper to the side, and smiled at the employee, while the employee gave him a nervous look. “Jack! Sit down, take a seat! Don’t look so tense with me!” the Old Man with the greybeard said with a signaling of his hand. Jack swallowed his nerves and eased up a bit, as he sat down. “What do you want to discuss with me, Uncle Sam?” Chris nervously asked.

Uncle Sam smiled. He leaned over with his arms onto his desk, and looked at his nephew with a bit of concern. “Jack. Has something been bothering you? Your performance at this company was extraordinary in your opening weeks, even to me! I never expected you to perform that well! But now, you seem to have faltered a bit. Lemme ask you, what stopped your momentum?” Uncle Sam asked softly.

Jack started to flinch over the words, but tried to retain composure. “It’s, it’s nothing really! I, just, it’s nothing really!” Jack tried to brush it off. “If you’re going to try to hide the obvious from me, at least try to keep a decent poker face,” Uncle Sam hinted.

Jack’s head started to shrink. “It’s, my dad. He’s been real hard on me recently and it's taken a toll. I’ve told him about all that’s been going on here, and I thought he would be proud of me. But, all it seems he has is a whole bunch of corrections. As if no matter how hard I try to improve and succeed, he’s not satisfied. It’s been taking a toll on me,” Jack replied.

Uncle Sam observed what he said and put a hand to his chin. “Do you ever play video games, son?” Uncle Sam inquired. Jack looked at him a bit curiously.

“I have, in the past. Why do you ask?” Jack inquired.

“Have you ever played any of those fancy smancy mmorpgs, or those online games where the game just goes on and on and on, and everything seems to change, and the game is never really set in stone?” Uncle Sam asked.

“I still do on my free times, occasionally!” Jack replied.

“You know, the funny thing about those games that go on indefinitely, is that they teach you to adapt to how the competition changes, or the, “Meta game,” changes if you will, and that you're constantly improving. There are things we probably do well within the game itself, and there are things we have yet to improve upon. There is a constant push and pull, a readjustment towards our approach, and a string of constant setbacks when we grind, and constantly pushing forward, sometimes more quickly then we all expect. But that’s like life, isn’t it? We’re always disciplining, always adjusting, always improving on every single little thing we do, and then learning more about ourselves and the world we live in, in the process? You know what’s funny? My brother used to try to instruct me, discipline me, and scold me for not performing as well as I could have, and your grandfather was a very compassionate man. And yet, I almost regret not heeding his counsel sooner. Do you want to know what I envy?” Uncle Sam asked.

Jack looked curiously at Uncle Sam. “What?” Jack asked.

“I envy you have a father who’s as capable as he is, and he is as hard on you with his instruction and his advice as he is. He does that because he wants you to be at your very best, and you and him have a very analytical mind when it comes to recognizing areas that you can grow, and help speed your growth process entirely. It’s a good thing I can still have him as a little brother. Your dad is proud of you, regardless of how he may come off at times. Don’t be discouraged, Jack,” Uncle Sam encouraged.

Jack smiled widely at his Uncle Sam.