The joy of playing

They were playing football but had thrown the rule-books away!

There they were. A big group of 5-6 year old boys & girls in a rain-soaked muddy ground. Puddle patches at some places. Goal posts standing to attention.

What do these kids do? Ignore the goal-posts. Stay away from the wet but even parts. Search for the muddiest parts. Kick-off there & begin the game. A slightly different one.

Imagine a team of runners carrying a flaming torch. Recall the energy,the purpose, & the direction set by their run. Take away the purpose & direction. What you have is pure,unbridled energy. Bubbling energy!

These kids were bursting with energy & the ball was at their feet! The football was their flaming torch. There were no two teams. This was ‘one’ team of twenty odd kids running for fun with the ball for company!

They were pushing the ball together. There it goes into the mud-pools. Perfect! Time to dig it out & splash about the mud & water! Out of one & head towards the other! The puddles of water & the promising mud formed the circumference of circles they were making with their feet. Run! Kick! Fall in the mud..Laugh..Roll over! Pull the other down! Get up.. Run! Kick!

Who cares who has the possession! Celebrate kicking the ball being sprawled over!Celebrate not being able to kick the ball being sprawled over! When most of the front-runners fall down, those behind take charge, and do the same thing all over again!

This was one team. Moving around in circles. Not aiming for a goal. Not looking out for one.

Having all the fun in the world!

I saw this thanks to the traffic that had slowed to a crawl. As the traffic moved along, my heart ran towards the kids.The meeting & the work did not miss it..

As I write this, its still moving around in circles around them; nudging them to curry favour with the Gods. Give me another chance to play! Just like you do..

Oh, the joy of playing! Heaven…

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