Two things have been stuck in onto this column. First it appears there is so much we can learn from the sport of football for life in general. Second I did promise that last week was last to quote from a book that I believe if many had a chance to read, could transform their thinking and life. On the book the various messages I have received have meant that perhaps once more we could finish and finish this week just to have the few quotations from it as many have said buying a copy would take a bit of time for the book to reach them.
Like I did say above, football as a game looking at how it is played and its management has tremendous life lessons the few of which we have already covered in previous episodes. Here we will look at one of the teachings in general terms from the management as well as operations side of the game.
A good football manager or coach does not only concentrate on his team securing a win or scoring goals, but would also look to perfect the process and systems that lead up to such a goal. For example in the English Premiership Football League, a manager like Pep Guardiola of Manchester City wants always for his team to develop play from the goalkeeper all the way interlinked to the strikers. Managers like him make sure to sign up goalkeepers who are able to intelligently read the game, throw and or pass the ball as appropriate to infield players ‘aimfully’. But must also be able to receive passes from the infield players, be able to at times dribble with the ball, instruct other players, organise play and decide sharply who to pass on the ball to from their team for play to develop.
Other managers again former English Premier League ones for instance Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger are good example similarly of managers or coaches who encourage efficiency and effectiveness of their whole team’s processes and systems and not concentrating on just horning goal scorers. Indeed there is a lot we can learn from the sport of football.
Let’s now look at the quotations for this week. The magic word would be practice and not just rote learning, we need to practise what we learn. I am sure these quotes will teach us one or two things, read and enjoy:
THE POWER OF NOW – A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment by Eckhart Tolle
“Hence, the ultimate purpose of the world lies not within the world but in transcendence of the world. Just as you would not be conscious of space if there were no objects in space, the world is needed for the unmanifested to be realized. You may have heard the Buddhist saying. ‘If there were no illusion, there would be no enlightenment.’ It is through the world and ultimately through you that the unmanifested knows itself. You are here to enable the divine purpose of the universe to unfold. That is how important you are!”
“Unless and until you access the consciousness frequency of presence, all relationships, and particularly intimate relationships, are deeply flawed and ultimately dysfunctional. They may seem perfect for a while, such as when you are ‘in love,’ but invariably that apparent perfection gets disrupted as arguments, conflicts, dissatisfaction and emotional or even physical violence occur with increasing frequency. It seems that most ‘love relationships’ become love/ hate relationships before long. Love can then turn into savage attack, feelings of hostility, or a complete withdrawal of affection at the flick of a switch. This is considered normal. The relationship then oscillates for a while, a few months or a few years, between the polarities of ‘love’ and hate, and it gives you as much pleasure as it gives you pain. It is not uncommon for couples to become addicted to those cycles. Their drama makes them feel alive. When a balance between the positive/ negative polarities is lost and the negative, destructive cycles occur with increasing frequency and intensity, which tends to happen sooner or later, then it will not be long before the relationship finally collapses.”
“Every addiction arises from unconscious refusal to face and move through your own pain. Every addiction starts with pain and ends with pain. Whatever the substance you are addicted to – alcohol, food, legal or illegal drugs, or a person – you are using something or somebody to cover up your pain. That is why, after the in initial euphoria has passed, there is so much unhappiness, so much pain in intimate relationships. They do not cause pain and unhappiness. They bring out the pain and unhappiness that is already in you. Every addiction does that. Every addiction reaches a point when it does not work for you anymore, and then you feel the pain more intensely than ever. ———– This is one reason why most people are always trying to escape from the present moment and are seeking some kind of salvation in the future. The first thing that they might encounter if they focused their attention on the Now is their own pain, and this is what they fear. If they only knew how easy it is to access in the Now the power of presence that dissolves the past and its pain, the reality that dissolves the illusion. If they only knew how close they are to their own reality, how close to God.”
“Love is not selective, just as the light of the sun is not selective. It does not make one person special. It is not exclusive. Exclusivity is not the ‘love’ of God but the love of ego. However, the intensity with which true love is felt can vary. There may be one person who reflects your love back to you more clearly and more intensely than others, and if that person feels the same toward you, it can be said that you are in a love relationship with him or her. The bond that connects you with that person is the same bond that connects you with the person sitting next to you on a bus, or with a bird, a tree, a flower. Only the degree of intensity with which it is felt differs. ——– Even in an otherwise addictive relationship, there may be moments when something more real shines through, something beyond your mutual addictive needs. These are moments when both your and your partner’s mind briefly subside and the pain-body is temporarily in a dormant state. This may sometimes happen during physical intimacy, or when you are both witnessing the miracle of childbirth, or in the presence of death, or when one of you is seriously ill – anything that renders the mind powerless. When this happens, your Being, which is usually buried underneath the mind becomes revealed, and it is this that makes true communication possible.”
