My story is one of the more spectacular, but I suppose I'll share for the simple reason that you posted in the Fiction Mill (and that makes me happy).
I started out with the attitude of "You play what? You dork!" when my best friend told me he had started playing. I mean, I had played RPGs on various platforms and had done a stint with D&D but this was the summer after freshman year of highschool. After a whole year of playing, it just wasn't that much fun anymore. I decided that I spent way too much time online and playing cards taht would be better spent doing other things. So I packed up my cards, tried to sell them (its hard to find people ready to dropp $500 on cardboard all at once!!) and then forgot about it.
A year later, and there I was, sitting around the house for the spring and beginning of summer with a cracked shoulder. I couldn't write, had to learn how to use a mouse with my left hand, and couldn't really do much at all. Well, except I could, with a bit of help, flop down some Magical cards and think.
It wasn't the cool thing to do, but then again, what did I care about being cool? Its not cool to walk around with your shoulder in 5 pieces, with one of the same three button down shirts, and no arm through one of the sleeves. So it became something to do, and it was relaxing and fun. I began to wonder, what really is wrong with it, that I wanted to quit the first time. I mean, there are times where I think I've wasted some time playing cards, and there have been wasted dollars. But why not? Why something else over this? There's no reason, and its a perfectly acceptable thing to do, as long as its fun.
So here we are. Playing the game or not, its something to do. Are you having fun? Cause I suppose I am, and thats what counts. I'm actually going to play magic for the first time in about a month tomorrow. It should be a good time.
-Eric