Hello, Chaz Marler from Pair of Dice Paradise here, with the final installment in this Meeples For Sheepish Peoples series -- discussing the social activity of board games in the lives of people who aren’t necessarily socially outgoing.

This series of segments has been leading up to my first trip to GenCon. I had an interest in going last year, but let myself use the anxieties of the travel, crowds and hassle of it all to talk myself out of going, even though I immediately regretted letting it slip by. So, what’s different this year? Well, I stopped listening to myself and started listening to myself.

You see, last episode, I discussed the anxious little voice in one’s head that can prevent them from participating board game social gatherings.

Okay, in order to go to GenCon, first I’ll need to book a flight. (What if there’s a crash?) Well, yes, that would be unpleasant. But what if I stay home and there isn’t one? (Well, then I’d let be disappointed that I let the opportunity pass by.)

Aha! And that’s how I learned that, when that anxious voice starts to worry about a decision I have to make, to stop and ask myself, “at the end of the day, which decision will I be happier that I made”?

And it’s not just for big decisions. Do I want to ask those three people setting up Lords Of Vegas if they have room for a fourth? (Why don’t I just stand here instead, hoping they’ll notice me and invite me?) At the end of the day, which will I have rather done? Stood there for an hour with them not getting the hint, or have asked to join and been shot down, or, just maybe, proactively approached them and then spent that time building casino empires with them?

Sure, sometimes you won’t mesh with people you meet, and some people will be jerks. It’s not easy. It can be really difficult. But, at least in my case, deciding “what do I want more”, and then acting on it, is always more rewarding than backing down without trying.

And that’s what brought me to GenCon. I wanted to try it at least once, even though it meant travelling, flying, large crowds of strangers, finding places to eat, constant loud noise, being away from my family, being in an unfamiliar city, and rooming with Stephen Avery. But all of those can be rewarding accomplishments in their own way… with the possible exception of the Stephen Avery part.

So, by the time this video is released, GenCon 2015 will be concluding. Right now, it’s too early to know whether I loved or hated the experience. But, either way, it doesn’t matter. Because, at least as it relates to these Meeples For Sheepish Peoples, the important thing is that the little voice in my head and I will have had the experience.