WoWoWo Wordle

 

Wordle, our country’s newest trend, has definitely swept me up and in. Wordle is the first brain game I’ve been able to stick with. It’s finite enough that it doesn’t overwhelm me. It makes me use my brain in a different way from my default everyday activities, which, as I get older, feels like an important investment. It feels good to solve a puzzle every morning and I look forward to the next day every time I’m done.

Last week I was on day 78 of my Wordle streak. I was getting used to the idea that I would never miss a word. I was improving — getting words on the third try compared to my norm which is the fourth or fifth. But then, on day 79 I missed. I had gotten so cocky, so sure of myself. I envisioned my skills becoming so refined that I’d regularly be able to get Wordle on the second or third try. But in my rapid-fire word choice, I’d grown sloppy and lost!

Wordle is one of the first things I do in the morning and I know why. Getting the answer, solving the puzzle, winning the game is an immediate, palpable burst of dopamine. It starts me on a good path — one I feel like I can succeed on. And it makes me feel like I’ve accomplished something.

On that day when I missed my first Wordle, I felt sunken and demoralized. How could this happen when I was getting so good, performing better than I ever had?

I recommitted myself. I would work harder, think more carefully about my first word, and not be so impulsive on deciding to use a subsequent word that wasn’t the most strategically sound. The next day I got Wordle on the fifth try. Not my best, but at least I got it. I didn’t have the same surge of dopamine I’d been getting when I was on my winning streak, but I felt like I was recovering, coming back from the penalty box.

But the next day I missed Wordle again. And this time the blow was even greater than after my first loss. My success rate dropped from 100% to 98% and I felt rotten, like the true loser I really was. The dumb me came out of the shadows and swallowed up my confident, sharp, wordsmith-y self. It was a dark day.

I’m back on a streak — 3 days. I still do Wordle every morning but I’ve slowed down. I know that every line is a potential step closer to losing or winning. Knowing this, I take my time, contemplating all the possibilities before jumping into a word. I no longer rest on the laurels of my past success.

I’m grateful for the two Wordle losses. What they taught me is to think like a beginner, to always be trying my hardest, and not assume that, just because I was good at Wordle for three months I will always be good at it.

I can feel my brain trying harder, thinking about every possible word that ends in “m” instead of just choosing the first one that comes to mind. In not assuming I’m going to win Wordle every time I’m getting more out of the game. I am working harder, giving my brain a better workout. I’d call that a win every time, even when I lose.