There is a great deal to learn from sports. If we would invest just as much time learning from it as we do watching it, we would indeed be enriched! All forms of sportsmanship require a deep spirituality; focus and concentration are the keys to winning and striking the target!
In cricket every run is important, in running every sprint, in tennis every point, in swimming every lap, in basketball every net etc. Being behind a few points, may not matter at first, but this small lead is enough to give your opponent the confidence to gallop ahead and then you are forever playing catch up or as in chess forever trying to free up your pieces for the rest of the game.
Where the game is time sensitive, every second is crucial and cannot afford to be wasted. Records are broken by the second. The difference of winning or losing can be a determined in a fraction of second. And the winner cannot allow his/her vision to be distracted or to go astray for even a second. For the winner, the destination, the target, the aim is right there in front of their eyes.
In daily life too, every second is an opportunity to win hearts. It's totally in our hands how we hold the 'bat' and in which direction we hit the 'ball'! Love and friendship needs to be won with love and blessings and not coercion and compulsion. Sometimes, we feel it's not in our hands, but is that really true. Do people not respond to us in the way we treat them?
Every thought creates every moment, every hour, every day and every week. As we think, so we create our present reality. We may believe it's just one negative thought, but before we know it, it has taken hold of our feelings and emotions and there is a resistance in our actions.
Real life is a bit different from sport, where the only objective is to outdo your opponent and win at any cost. If we create the same rules of win/lose in our personal lives then our premise will be that one has to lose in order for the other to win. In daily life however, since we are vying for the heart which is more encompassing and embracing, win/win outcomes are indeed possible and we just have to learn to 'serve' generously and graciously with our feelings!
Relationships are indeed an investment and will reap generous dividends if I have invested prudently. Constantly withdrawing from the balance will not leave me much 'at a time of need'. I need to ensure that I am giving and not just taking, or if I have taken, then to ensure to return something back immediately before the account depletes too quickly. But the winner takes a step further; he does more than the average, he gives more of himself than the average athlete!
If people seem to be playing games with you, then choose not to be against them, choose not to be their opponent - this is exactly what gives them power over you; one-upmanship. Most conflict occurs when there is an opposition created, a rivalry, a "them" and an "us", you versus me. But if we can see ourselves on the same side, two people wanting the same thing - then we are not enemies, but partners. We both want the same thing; we are just going about it from different angles. So take courage and change the rules of the game!
Timing too is pivotal in 'triumphing' in relationships; it takes a certain spiritual discernment to know what to say, as well as when and how to say it. What will be that prize-winning word or statement that will touch the soul, secure trust and launch an alliance? Sometimes due to our embarrassment or ego we miss the opportunity to say what we genuinely wanted to say and that moment is lost forever.
There is also a saying in Islam that we have a limited number of breaths. So we better start using them wisely, for every breath gone, shall never return. In several faiths, they also speak of taking God's name in every breath, thus every breath will matter when I am eventually in front of God and the account has to be settled.
Sometimes accepting defeat is also part of the game. But remember, we may have lost the battle, but we have not lost the war. We may have lost the argument, we may have lost the match, but the surfer knows, there will always be another wave!
It's time... to pay attention to every thought, every second, to every moment and every breath, for the winner pushes himself more than the average athlete. In every breath let me remind myself that I am a soul, a point of light, a radiant energy, and glowing, shining and a mirror to spread God's light. Give more than you take. And don't become hopeless because another wave is on its way right now!
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These thoughts are indeed for sharing to help make the world a better place! Feel free to forward this wisdom, but to avoid any karmic rebound, please acknowledge its source. (www.ArunaLadva.org)
These thoughts are indeed for sharing to help make the world a better place! Feel free to forward this wisdom, but to avoid any karmic rebound, please acknowledge its source. (www.ArunaLadva.org)
