Why Sports?

Each year, hundreds of billions of dollars go into the organization, participation, promotion and broadcast of sports. Millions of warrior-aged men spend their days running, kicking, or throwing a ball in a hole or over a net — or just watching and betting on others doing the same. Women combat each other over scores that also no one will remember before too long. All of this can distract each next generation from the truly important battle to defeat tyranny and liberate the human species, and evidence points that that is very intentional.

Is all this sporting activity worth anything? I say YES.

Is there value to be gained that could help us rescue ourselves in the real world of outcomes that affect real lives? I say YES!

Let’s dive in to see how…

Sports was my first and has been perhaps my most important spiritual practice. From the time that I could first smack a ball with a paddle, spiral a mini-football or wobble my skates across a frozen pond… I was hooked. I played with friends, practiced my skills, read about sports heroes with a flashlight under my blanket after bedtime. I collected picture cards, went to baseball games with my mitt in case of a foul ball (I actually got one!), and dreamt of winning championships.

I was a very good athlete. Blessed with the genes of a father who was a squash champion and a mother who was a superb dancer, I practiced hard and loved the teamwork. I realized fairly early on that there were rare individuals anointed with athletic genius who, if they focused in just one area and had sufficient support, would become the world-class professionals in each game. I knew I was not to be one of them.

My passion was for the craft, for mastering the principles in common to all activities and for operating in “the zone.” I didn’t have a great drive to be the best or to win over others. I was interested in the thrill and the lessons, and that has served me well in unexpected ways the rest of my life.

I achieved expert levels in 10 different sports: tennis, ice hockey, soccer, table tennis, sailing, windsurfing, skiing, waterskiing, scuba and the non-violent martial art of aikido.

Competition can teach sportsmanship and improve performance. It also has the risks of limiting joy and diminishing self-esteem if not guided skillfully.

Even though there is value to be gained, I personally don’t recommend the sports that involve directing violence toward others — football, boxing, mixed martial arts, even video games that simulate injuring and killing. It’s a destructive mental habit to practice and the risks of lasting injuries is great. I am a big fan of solo excellence activities like rock climbing, disc golf, track & field, snowboarding and kayaking.

I won some trophies, and earned black belts, but more importantly, athletics helped me to develop useful qualities for more world changing activities.

I learned movement, channeling energy and emotions, visualization, intention, balance, centering, endurance, drive, and stress release. I ultimately became a peak performance sports coach for top level athletes in multiple sports. I facilitated new levels of success for a top 10 tennis pro, an NFL kicker, a WPGA golf professional, and a national champion team of synchronized swimmers, to mention a few. I did this by showing them how to better manage energy, ride on emotion and operate from a profound sense of life purpose and the pursuit of excellence rather than the anger, vengeance or the fear of losing.

I was able to bring to many clients that little edge that makes a huge difference in competition and it usually had to do with the intangibles I had learned from my study of martial arts and spiritual awareness gained from explorations in Zen and Tibetan Buddhism, yoga, self-hypnosis, transpersonal psychology, enneagram, brainwave biofeedback and EST.

Let me be clear that many of these qualities can be learned from other activities besides sports and martial arts. Rigorous dedication in music, crafts, chess/go/bridge, video games, debate, science, logic, math and the like can also accelerate discovery of self and natural principles.

As I shifted my focus to addressing the destructive and dangerous problems threatening humanity’s very existence, I was able to call on much I had learned from sports — especially in the areas of situational awareness, focus, delayed gratification, endurance, confidence and teamwork.

The Truth movement is learning how to center and expand from the Consciousness movement and the Consciousness movement is getting grounded in dealing with the emotional and worldview challenges of facing head-on the deceits and destructive schemes of the Global Domination Agenda. It is the merging of these varied skills and ethical philosophies that will enable us to pierce the veils of illusion and stand strong in our quest for freedom and ascension to the next level of cosmic illumination.

We can have fun, experience tribal affiliation, be entertained, release stress and more through enjoying sports. More significantly, all races, genders and ages can also use their activities to include aligning human behavior with the dynamics of the Unified Field of Cosmic Consciousness in every sector of endeavor.

Sports, crafts, arts and games, pursued mindfully can empower us to live in answer to the really important questions of the GREAT GAME of life…like:

• Who am I?
• Why am I here?
• How does the universe work?
• What is in the way of humanity thriving?
• How can we work together to solve it?
• How can I best contribute to the Universe wakening to understand itself through us?

Here’s to the beauty, joy and privilege of being alive to go for it!

How have your passionate practices informed your path and fueled your purpose?