Want to play life's game to full time? Try this.
 |
| Photo by Sam Wermut on Unsplash |
Specifically, we were wondering aloud on why, unlike footballers, we find it sometimes hard to play the
entire length of life’s minutes and still finish strong.
Just like football, we believe that none of us is born into this life intending to quit half-way in the game.
We all want to play a thrilling
life’s match. And we want to play it to full time.
What is a thrilling life’s match?
Let’s look again at football.
If
you have ever watched a thrilling football match, then you know that the thing
that keeps you on the edge of your pants is the constant flow of attack and
counter-attack, usually interrupted by a goal here and there, and countless
saves.
The real game happens in the middle
field where clean passes waltz lyrical. Sometimes I actually get lost into the magic. Its difficult to fathom the level of skill that goes into kicking a ball with the right effort to reach an empty space and connect with your teammate who is running into the same space. Is that geometry or calculus?
And isn't it wondrous that the mind, eyes and feet can do this perfectly without a calculator?
Then there are those inspired moves where the ball passes several players to
find an expectant striker who, without stopping its flow, picks it up and drives
it into a remote corner of the net. You can almost hear the stadium erupting into one
thunderous applause, can't you?
And yes, there are those moments
when the ball seems to have a life of its own, curving its way through the air,
like a laser guided missile. How the hell do they play that?
And ins't it amazing how the team with a goal or two down, fights tooth and nail, even in the dying minutes of the game? What keeps them going?
The lesson here is that a
thrilling football match comes down to two teams that are good at attacking and
counter-attacking.
The same goes for a thrilling
life’s match. There will be moments when you feel like you are on the right
path towards a big win, then there are those times when you have to play good
defence.
And just like in football,
scoring or getting scored is never the end of the game. In fact, the victor in football, as in life, is
usually the team that is able to respond and adapt quickly to its opponents game.
How can we find the courage to
keep on playing even when we are several goals down? How can we find the energy and inspiration to keep on playing enthusiastically and joyously, even in the dying minutes of life's game?
The answer to this can,
partially, be found in our #sundaywhispers quote of 17th June 2016 (see here, here and here).
The words in this quote were inspired by an article by John P. Weiss where he
says:
'Yes, I know that life gets in
the way. There are mortgages, kids to raise, bills to pay. But it's important
to keep the dream alive…The point is, keep chasing your dreams. Don't give up
on them. Even if you have to chase them part time or piecemeal. There's a quote
in our home that hangs on the wall. It says: "Having it all doesn't
necessarily mean having it all at once." ...Keep chasing your dreams and
you'll never lose the significance of living.'
That’s it, right there!
As long as we have a dream in our
heart, we cannot lose the significance of living. This guarantees that we
will always find a reason and the courage, to play life’s game to full time.
Cheers everyone!
Comments