Life is like a basketball game!

You can feel the excitement and nerves even before you step onto the court. Your mind is racing 100 miles an hour trying to calculate, plan, strategise and even predict how this game is going to.

You tell yourself you have got this. You hope and pray that this is the game that you will win.

You look to your teammates, your coaches and your family in the crowd.

Expectations begin to set in and it now, shit just became real.

This is going to go down and you are mentally choosing to win this game.

You have put too much time, effort, energy, and money into getting here, so you better finish it off.

You begin the game. You take your place, and the whistle goes.

There is some fumbling around whilst you try to orientate yourself in the game, with your teammates and the opponents.

Trying to get an understanding of what’s the play is. But there is no time to think about anything, or be anywhere, the time is now. In this moment, fully present. .

Calling for the ball and driving it to the key. That’s my job. You are fully focused on the end state here and your body just naturally follows your mind and your focus.

You score and the crowd goes wild. Now the other team has the ball, and they are coming straight for you because you are in there way to their goal.

Some charge straight into you, some side step around you, others undercut or manipulate trick shots and some just haphazardly have a go and fail and its back to your teams ball.

You know there are four quarters to a game so even if you stuff it up in the first or second quarter, you still have a chance. As long as you don’t trail too far from your opponent.

The basketball game is a metaphor for life.

The four quarters represents key stages of your life – birth, individuation, death and rebirth.

And just like basketball, you are part of a team, a family, a tribe. Sometimes you really gel with your team, and you know exactly where they are and their roles in the game of life. And sometimes you are a little off, searching for them, relying on them for support.

Your opponents are simply the obstacles in the way of you getting to your goal.

Sometimes they are fast and unpredictable, and other times they are slow and non-responsive.

Either way, the perception is that they are in your way of getting to your goal.

Sometimes, when you are locked in, you can sidestep around your opponents (obstacles) and whisp past them without them even knowing what hit them and you score.

No fouls, no fight, just fully flowing in the moment. Its these moments when you erupt with achievement and joy and your teammates (family) surrounding you are cheering you on, joining in your celebratory ‘win’. Together, in that moment, you are joyous. Your opponents (obstacles) are still there but they remain confused and bewildered and slightly agitated that you didn’t listen to them. So they yell out, scream. Trying to get your attention.

Other times you feel you are up against. The refs (referees) are not calling the fouls, you feel like you are being totally attacked in the key (in life) on your way to the goal (your desired end results). You begin down the slippery slope of personal torment.

Asking yourself what’s going on? Are these refs blind, can they not see that I am getting hurt?

You then start to make it mean something about you. Maybe I’m not good enough, maybe it’s me, maybe my head isn’t it or it is too much in it. And maybe, this game (life) is unfair and there’s no point because no matter I do, how hard I try, I can’t seem to get ahead.

My opponents (obstacles) are blocking me, my teammates (family) aren’t in a position to help me, and the refs (results) are definitely not on my side. I may as well quit.

But then you hear a tiny voice in the audience (intuition) yell out words of encouragement. ‘You have got this!’.

You don’t know where these words are bellowed from, but you picked up on the vibration in that millisecond and took a moment to listen.

For some reason, you get a second wind. You are back in the game (of life) and focused.

You get to a point where it is less about winning the game, and more about having fun and playing the game you love (being in life). You give yourself a pep talk and reaffirm you have got this. I’m back in the game. I’m locked in.

Then minutes pass, and the game ebb’s and flow’s.

You score a goal (create amazing opportunities); they score a goal (you take two steps forward, three steps back). Back and forth the pendulum swing goes.

You get some, you lose some, but you are still in the game.

It’s at this point where you take a reality check and remember win or lose, I made it here and I am 100% in it, in this game (of life).

Then something starts to shift. You let go of the fear, the worry, the concern about not winning, not coming first, not reaching those goals, and your focus shifts to having fun, being joyous with the people you love and the game that you love. You shift your focus from the poor ref calls and the big bad scary opponents, and realise they are not worthy of your focus.

As with everything in life, you win some, you lose some if you have the ‘swing’ mentality.

But if you rise above the pendulum swing and focus on a higher purpose, a higher state, you are a winner already. You have already achieved what most cannot.

You have a connected to a truth that is beyond current reality.

You know you are connected to that higher state and you realise your teammates, hell even the other opponents are right there with you, side by side all striving for their own goals. Even the refs’ attitudes start to change, or so you perceive, and the game (of life) goes up a notch. You let go of needing to know and stay in the present moment.

It is at this point that you realise there actually is no game (in life), not really.

It isn’t about winning or losing because the game is an illusion.

You realise it’s not what happens on the court, win or lose, its about where your focus lies.  

You realise there are no obstacles, there is only connection to your truth.