While originally football is the game of the streets, it is the only game that can be played anywhere and under virtually any conditions.
As a kid I played football in the hallway of our home in Maryland, (Cork Street, Dublin, not USA) - mum was an outstandingly understanding woman -, in the upstairs bedroom with my brothers, when the same mum was out shopping, obviously, and I have even played 'keepie-up-headers' in a telephone box, all because it was raining outside in the real world.
Playing on the streets, whether it was in a 1 v 1 or a 16 v 17 game or the long-dead-but-never-forgotten games of '3 and In' and 'Combo' fuelled in each of one of us an undying love for the round sphere that became the focal point of most of our leisure time.
The mesmerising effect of a football, a simple object that has captured the minds and hearts of tens of millions of youngsters across the globe over the last hundred years or so, is without doubt one of the most amazing wonders of the modern world.
But it is not the football in itself that is the magical component; it is the effect the football has, the quite miraculous ability it has to elevate the spirit of every one of the tens of millions who touch it.
A football coming your way imbues an immediate optimism in your heart and sets alive your imagination as a plethora of wondrous possibilities open up in your mind.
You make decisions and implement actions with a joy so unfettered and all-embracing that it makes you chase the football as if your very life depended upon it. With the additional benefit of great experience the same actions possess the potential to act as a prelude to the discovery of one's instinct and from there the world of football is your oyster.
Optimism is the elixir of life. With optimism as your travelling companion you are never far from adventure. Moreover, a personality peppered with an optimistic outlook on life grants one a free-flowing stream of hope and anticipation.
Why optimism is so important is to an extent one of the secrets of our existence. Once such an intrinsic aspect of life in Ireland, optimism has to a far too great an extent been encouraged to slip almost surreptitiously into the background of Irish society.
Optimism is an inherent sense of expectancy and is reflective of an inner peace that depicts to the observant eye a reliability of character.
Another highly recommended travelling companion is imagination, which is, in the opinion of many, a fundamental and essential force for a long and healthy life.
It is none too difficult for an individual to combine optimism and imagination as they exude a shared philosophy and whomsoever is fortunate enough to accommodate both traits will forever believe that whatever life throws in their direction will be of benefit in one way or another.
Imagination is, however, a serious step up from optimism and is the base of all creativity contained in each and every person that has ever existed.
My triumvirate of the week is completed by instinct. Instinct is a serious player in the journey of life. Whatever one's line of work may be, the instinct is your only man.
The instinct is what takes the imagination into the realms of the soul. We all possess great instinct but one of the most unfortunate items of life is that the majority of us never create the precise set of circumstances for our instinct to come out to play.
The instinct lies deep within the individual patiently awaiting a call to action.
For any of us to be in position to bring the instinct into play there have to be several conditions in place. One must have a love, a passion even, backed up by a talent for whatever field of activity in which one requires the instinct to participate in.
This must then be aided by honesty and abetted by desire for the union to become real. There is the further fact that sometimes, without any initial realisation on the part of the person concerned, the instinct will, on rare occasions, offer its assistance.
Sometimes the instinct realises that almost all the conditions necessary are in place but the individual is naively failing to realise his or her propinquity to success. The instinct will emerge quietly and offer its service, almost as a free sample if you will.
It is exactly this that has encouraged many of us to arrive at a decision of great consequence at a critical moment in the game of life without ever realising where the inspiration emanated from.
The more contemplative among us will have ruminated on the minor miracle that has taken place and evolved to a higher echelon of consciousness, while others will have become consumed by the wonder of their own greatness and allowed arrogance to become the fellow traveller rather than instinct.
But an instinct, well nurtured, developed and above all respected, will take the performance to a level never before envisaged.
The performer who is well versed in these three elements will accumulate an impressive understanding of the joys of football, and life, and of the people concerned therein.
He will realise that greatness is based on simple thoughts and actions and forever hold in his heart the joy of living. And you thought all along that football was purely about winning.
