Today Is The World Cup

People feel great on the day of the championship. They wear funny clothes, sing silly songs, yell real loud, and move as if life has a purpose. The big game brings out the celebration in everyone who participates. That has even more significance when you are the player or the coach, because you are at the center of the action.

Your playoff game might be a sales call, a tennis match, a rock concert, an opera, a show, a hot date, or even a gathering of a few good friends. Whatever it is, you can play as if it really matters, beginning right now.

Every great discipline and every meaningful philosophy brings attention to the present moment. Right now you are reading this. You are taking that very breath. Your heart is beating that rhythm. Right here you are living the only life you have. Pour your heart into it and you will get a return rush of love from the world around you.

Presence is the aura of an individual who is bigger than life. Presents are gifts we give and receive. But to be present is the greatest gift because then we feel the presence of divine love. At the goal line, any goal line, all attention focuses on the play, the ball, the movement, the strike or the stroke. Everyone shifts together into one transcendent moment made up of many fields of attention. That rapt attention creates team spirit.

In our daily lives, problems clamor for our attention -- they have to wait. Troubles are coming -- but not right now. Issues must get resolved -- just not this minute. One day you will die -- but not today. The entire universe will cease to exist -- all in good time. Right here, right now, the impending play is everything. Intensity generates intention. The focus puts everything else in its proper perspective. We see the world through eyes of our collective enthusiasm.

Today is the championship. Your actions right now determine the rest of your life. Do you want to reach that goal? Will you close that sale? Can you illuminate that audience? You have to risk something. Hell, you have to risk everything. You have to show some style.

In an existential universe with no apparent meaning, you have to move as if your actions matter. You have to make your word reliable so that your voice brings your dream into reality.

Reading this isn't enough. You have to put your petty objections aside and hear this from the depths of your being. This moment is your reminder of who you are and what you are. You are a child of the universe. It only exists to love you and to fulfill your true desires.

Wherever you are right now, that is your arena. Whatever you are doing right now, that is your performance. The world around you is your stage. Create the characters you need to present the show of your life. Give it all you've got right now. Your next move counts. Your next words matter. Billions of people are tuned in. If you get it right now you will enjoy a more radiant tomorrow.

--Martin Sage