The Onyx Sojourner Medal and Why It Means So Much To Me.

I did it.

After playing for more than a year, I finally got the Onyx Sojourner Medal and completely overcame the sojourner paradox.

For non-Ingress players, the sojourner paradox is one of the unofficial rules of ingress which states:

The Sojourner badge is both the easiest and hardest badge to get. No one can stop you from getting it but your own laziness.

Why it means so much to me?

You see, when I started playing Ingress I never thought that I would be addicted. I downloaded the game after getting frustrated when Niantic delayed the release of Pokemon Go in my country.

So I joined The Resistance.

I thought that I would just play this game until they release Pokemon Go but by the time that Pokemon Go is finally available, I didn't even bother to play because I'm already hooked in chasing medals and badges particularly this one:

)

Getting this medal means that for 360 days straight, I went out and hacked a portal within 24-hour period. Again, that is 360 days straight!

That is almost a year of constant effort to go out and play which is pretty hard considering that I have to face some real challenges in order to achieve this feat.

First, among these challenges is my schedule which is the actual time that I have to play. I have no problems playing during weekdays since I normally go out and hack portals on my way to work.

The challenging part is during weekends or holidays because on these days, as a responsible husband and father, I normally need to stay at home. You know, play with kids, watch movies, do dishes, or laundry and all those kind of home based duties or activities.

How can I go out then?

This is tricky because I need to give my a wife a very compelling reason to go out and hack the nearest portal which is about 400 meters away from our home. Most of the time, I would go out to accomplish self-made errands and sneak my way to the portal and do a single hack of the day.

These errands are usually forgotten stuff from days before which I would suddenly remember. With her raised eyebrow, I'll grab my phone and leave.

Another challenge that I faced were extreme weather conditions.

Yes. I hacked a portal while a storm is battering Luzon. The weather was so bad and the rain was heavy but I needed the hack before the 24 hour period expires. So with umbrella and a jacket, I went.

And lastly, my health. There were times that I was sick but I still went out anyway. I wouldn't be writing this now if I chose to rest those days. I had to and I'm glad I did.

But is it all worth it?

You have no freaking idea.

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