These thoughts are to help and inspire people like you and me to reach higher and strive for greater things, to stand for a cause more noble than self serving, seeing the good in others and seeking it for their sake. I unashamedly weave my faith, biblical insight and life experiences into a sporting context to illustrate my personal journey to this point - I hope in a small way, I can help you on your journey to being all you were intended to be....

There are now over 50 posts to check out, tweet, link to facebook or google+ Please feel free to share a link BUT If you use any of the illustrations please acknowledge the source as Phil Manchester, Bradford, England. You can follow me on twitter @philmanchester


Saturday 22 October 2011

Turnover Ball - Regaining Posession

Can you remember that one kid when you were growing up? The kid who would take something that belonged to you and tease you with your own stuff, making out he was going to give it back to you, then snatching it away at the last second.

But can you remember the feeling when you took back what was rightly yours and perhaps with more force than that one kid was expecting! Taking possession back feels good, right?

In sport, making a tackle, then recovering the ball, regaining ground lost to the opposition and especially re-taking the lead, feels good and gives any player, the team and the watching crowd a great lift.

In rugby union, turnover ball does exactly that. With my playing days over, I sit in the crowd or watch  from the touchline, but I still get a buzz when our lads counter ruck, or emerge from a maul with the ball the opposition took in. It's the same when we make a tackle, get back up and re-take the ball. Its almost like taking your stuff back from that one kid!

You see, when you retake possession, you've then regained options. Options that were not available to you when you don't have possession. I love it in American Football, after the celebrations, they literally make a massive team switch from defensive to offensive. When you regain possession - you re-gain options.

Life is the same. Its a harsh feeling when you feel you've lost something - a friendship that somehow has broken down, that loss of spark in a relationship, feelings of mistrust. Life can throw some tough passes at you too: a redundancy, financial hard times or simply that feeling of being sucked into a repeat spiral. Even if life is great, there is always new ground to be taken. New options to explore.

The bible has a great insight, when the man's man, Jesus Christ says "the thief comes to rob, steal and destroy" (we can understand that), but then he goes on to say "but I am come that you might have life - and that, to its fullest expression".There are so many people I know and perhaps even you and I too, that feel they have lost something of what life could or should be.Well, maybe its time for some turnover ball?

No one is saying re-taking possession is easy - after all, winning turnover ball requires a commitment to the struggle, sometimes absorbing the impact. But in the face of the effort required, let's remember, the man's man has committed to helping us make that turnover - if we will ask him. Just for a second, think about how it could feel: when you regain possession, it opens up options. Then, why not ask for his help?