I digress......I realized during my meditation that life is actually like a game of football. This analogy can be applied to any sport really, but for me and the purposes of this post we'll use NFL football.
In football you have the Quaterback, linemen, running backs, full backs, half backs, and guards. There are things that happen during the game such as QB sneaks, tackles, sacks, injuries, fumbles, interceptions, huddles, and of course field goals and touchdowns. Every team has a coach. The coach's job is to motivate, uplift, discipline, and provide a different perspective or view of the game. The object if the game is for each team, through a series of plays (strategies) to advance the ball from one side of the field to the next and make touchdowns. The winner is the team with the most touchdowns. The teams are playing either defense or offense. During the game there will be time outs, flags which are actually challenges regarding a certain play, the conduct of the various players or broken rules...sometimes challenging the rules themselves. Life is exactly just like the game of football. The game itself is your daily life. The QB is you, the coach is God ( or whatever form that works for you), the people assigned to protect you (left guard/right guard) are Angels, the team (and die hard fans) are comprised of the people in your life (parents, teachers, children, family, friends, etc.) The huddle is prayer/meditation. The obstacles (opposing team players) are your experiences ( the bills, the self imposed restrictions or lackings, the job, the boss, the spouse, the teenager, etc.) The touchdowns and field goals are the miracles. As the QB you have the responsibility of aligning the team (you and your life) into the perfect position that guarantees a touchdown (miracle). During the game (life) you fumble, over throw, throw in the wrong direction, get sacked, suffer the loss or injury of a player, and sometimes your throw is intercepted, but ultimately, as you reevaluate the team, the strengths and weaknesses of ALL the players on the filed, and game itself, you realign the team (you and your life) for still another victory (touchdown/miracle). You refer to the coach (God) when things don't work or need to work differently, who tells you either keep doing what you are doing or try this new play or sometimes has to remove a player from the field even if that player is you. When you're not playing, you're training and preparing for "game day".
Sometimes, the members of your team have different ideas how the game should be played ( kick him to the curb, get rid of the cat, do this or that) which might be wise ideas but not necessarily appropriate for that particular game. It's the job or the QB (you) and the coach (God) to pick and chose what idea will ultimately align the entire team (you and your life) in the perfect position for a touchdown (Miracle). It's up to the QB (you) to remember that sometimes those ideas are based on the fear, lack of trust, anger, confusion...FEAR of the other members (which can sometimes be reflections of your own inner dialogue), and to stay the course, to not get boggled down with plays that don't work and that's where the coach (God) and the huddle (prayer/meditation) become crucial to the success of the team (you and your life). Once the 11 on-field team members are able to trust the wisdom of the QB and/or the coach, the entire team begins to work in sync with each other and ultimately aligns itself for the goal! It's important to note that in life the miracles or touchdowns/victories are always there.....they don't really suddenly appear. What actually ends up happening is that you, as the QB just SEE the game differently. When this happens, you begin to align with your true nature which is aligned with God (or whatever form works best for you) and you begin to expect miracles. Once you begin to expect them they start showing themselves to you. They didn't just happen, the were always there waiting, on the sidelines, to present themselves to you. Like the QB, you and I are co-creators of the game. The universe (team players) awaits our instructions, the coach (God) is on the sideline ready to help you at any moment, to cheer you on and celebrate the victories as well as the losses and to make sure you are ready for "game day"....every day!
Again this could be applied to any sport---the point is that very few things in life are not just like that, really. Hopefully this analogy will better assist you, as it did me this morning, in just how to play and win the game and to find comfort in the fact that there is no right or wrong-- just variations of. You will always have to be flexible or awake and aware. No one would ever win a game of football if the QB was asleep or not paying attention and if there was no room for variations of the same play and I think the game itself would be rather boring!
~Namaste
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