Month: January 2024

The Hero

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The Hero

It seems as though Science has proved the existence of God. A statement that Stephen Hawkins would disagree with however it’s in plain sight. I will explain. Existence came about a big bang that created space and time. Science explains that the big bang just happened – that it came out of nowhere. Okay, fair enough however that big bang created a vacuum and the existence of the universe and life is contained in that vacuum of space and time. What surrounds that vacuum of space and time is nothing. Pure nothingness. We cannot comprehend that “nothingness” because we are in this vacuum of space and time. Human beings cannot sit for an hour without being distracted by their smartphones; what is an hour to forever. It is clear an entity outside space and time created the universe. The bible states that God is abstract and all around. It states that God is formless and forever – that is to say exempted from time and space. There is no time outside the Universe, no space – it’s just nothing. Seems like a beautiful canvas for God to put his paint brush on don’t you think? Human beings we are terribly limited, we are not intelligent enough, we rely on our senses which are not reliable, we are vulnerable and we die. Is there an afterlife? Since I am propagating God’s existence, I will answer in the affirmative. My main argument being the transcendence of consciousness and near death experiences. I read studies by Dr. Jeffery Long who is an author and leading researcher on the subject of Near Death Experiences. He has devoted his life to the subject of NDE and has surveyed and interviewed thousands of participants who experienced NDE. What he concluded from these interviews and studies is that NDE patients usually experience a transcendence of consciousness meaning that they temporarily exit or harbor above their bodies and are able to see everything despite the fact that they are clinically dead. They also report that they feel peace and see a light that they enter into. Entrepreneur and Rapper, Curtis Jackson aka 50 Cent also encountered a Near Death Experience when he got shot 9 times. On the way to the hospital, 50 was clinically dead and interestingly enough he also reported that he was separated from his body and could see everything despite the fact that he was unconsciousness.

Our culture is proficient in articulating Near Death Experiences. You see this displayed on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows when “The Dark Lord” Voldemort kills Harry Potter with the Death Curse spell. At that moment, Harry Potter dies and separates from his body. He walks into a white light and everything crystalizes as he sees himself on a train station. He meets Dumbledore, a late friend and mentor and they converse for a while. Harry is made aware of his options. He can stay there with Dumbledore and experience peace forever or he can go back into the real world and defeat “The Dark Lord”. Harry chooses the latter and rejoins his body. Typically, it is the route of all patients who experience NDE. They walk into a light and experience peace and then they converse with a “Guardian Angel” who helps them find their way. The aftereffects of patients who have experienced NDE are groundbreaking, unbelievable – amazing! The aftereffects are met with a drastic change in personality and outlook on life. There is greater appreciation for life, a greater compassion for others, a heightened of purpose and self-understanding, a desire to learn more and an elevated spirituality – some might say that it is Gods touch. It is comically represented on the hit cartoon show “Regular Show” when Rigby’s body quits on him. Rigby eats so much junk food that his body can’t take it anymore – the body forcefully separates Rigby’s consciousness out of its constrains and runs away. When Rigby finally reunites with his body, he vows to never mistreat it again – this behavior is typical of a person who has experienced a Near Death Experience. NDE is a useful phenomenon as it suggests that the world is metaphysical as Plato and Socrates hypothesized. It validates God’s existence and makes a point for true world destinations – who knows maybe there is a heaven.

Ancient Mesopotamian religions take on the reality of things is interesting and I want to explore that. Before the world and universe existed; there existed, Gods Tiamat who is known as the Goddess of Chaos and Apsu the husband of Tiamat. They created a union, which was sexual (creative) and gave birth to the World of gods. Shortly after the creation of the World of gods. Apsu, the great king, the husband of Tiamat dies. He leaves Tiamat who is known as the goddess of chaos alone. Tiamat is feminine energy. She represents what is unknown – she represents chaos. Now that the great king of Order Apsu is dead, the cosmos is met with instability. The cosmos is now surrounded and run by chaos which is feminine energy. The World of Gods that was conceived by the great king Apsu and the Goddess of Chaos Tiamat is ran by their son – Marduk. As the son of Apsu, Marduk represents Order and he brings about order in his world. Seeing this order, Tiamat imposes herself and serves as a threat that wants to diminish this order. Marduk challenges Tiamat and defeats her – indoctrinating order and chaos in the world. To live in the world of the gods now meant that you were in point A, what is, the unbearable present and going to point B, what should be, the ideal future. To get to the ideal future, you have to go through chaos and triumph. It is the ideology of the hero. The hero makes himself out of the chaos. Chaos strengths him and keeps him focused. A hero explores unchartered territory which is chaotic and instills order. The hero conquers chaos to triumph.

This is seen every day in the world we inherited from the Gods. Rapper Jermaine Cole affectionately known as J. Cole is the perfect example of a hero conquering the unknown. As a young boy Jermaine always wanted to be a rapper. He envisioned himself as the greatest. However, his dreams didn’t align with his present. The present was hard and unbearable. He came from a small town that no one in the world knew existed. The town didn’t have notable heroes and crime was rife. To compound matters, he was raised by a single mother who had abusive partners – resulting in her mother resorting to drugs. Jermaine understood that his only chance was school and so he got good grades and was offered a scholarship to go study in New York. In New York, he endured a lot. He was alone and he was often broke. However, he survived and fought for his dream to be a Rapper. He forced things and by chance met his idol Jay – Z and asked him to listen to his mixtape. Jay –Z shunned the young Jermaine. That didn’t deter the young Jermaine Cole who kept on working hard on all fronts of his life. He was often in survival mode. Broke, studying, working piece jobs and at the same time actively pursuing his dream to be a Rapper. Two years later after he was shunned by Jay- Z, he received a call from the big man who was interested in signing him. Jermaine Cole had done it, he had conquered New York City. He had attained a degree and was signed to Jay –Z’s Rocnation. He had realized his dreams. He was fulfilled. He explored unchartered territory and made it familiar – he made it his own, he dominated it. He showed characteristics of the hero. He triumphed against chaos to get to his dreams. He had a great future. Interestingly, he often referred to himself as Simba in his songs. Simba is a fictional character in the story “The Lion King” who is the son of the great king Mufasa. After his father’s death, Scar the brother of Mufasa forces Simba to retreat so he can become king of Pride Rock. Scars inauguration signals chaos in the animal kingdom and puts an imbalance in the ecosystem of most life forms. After a hiatus, Simba comes back to defeat Scar and restores order to the animal king. Simba is the hero. He is the slayer of chaos. He is the archetypal son – like Marduk.

Another example of the archetypal son as the hero can be found in Egyptian mythology. In a battle for order (to be king) brothers Set and Osiris engaged in war. Set wins this battle and cuts his brother (Osiris) into multiple pieces before scattering these pieces underground. Set therefore wins the battle of order – he becomes the king. The underground which represents chaos is occupied by Isis. Isis recuperates the pieces of Osiris and assembles him again. Isis makes herself pregnant from the pieces of Osiris. From the pregnancy, Horus is born. Horus comes out from the underground to battle his uncle Set and wins. This made Horus the divine son of order and chaos. After the battle with Set, Horus went underground and devoured his father Osiris. He did this so they could be one, so he can restore order in the world with his father. Horus is the archetypal son, the hero, the restorer of order – the great god. This Egyptian tale is great for goal directed behavior. The notion that you can build yourself with pieces on the ground to create something greater. Isis reminds us that defeat is only temporarily, that if you can navigate your way through chaos you will be a king. Horus is Simba the archetypal son who saves the world from chaos. Horus is Jesus Christ, the hero of humankind.

The world, reality is Ying Yang. It is order and chaos. We are always in a place of insufficiency aiming for better or the best. The world is explored territory and unexplored territory. It is the hero and the adversary. It is order and tyranny. It is destruction and creation. It is exploration and repression. The world is divided into two and it seems we have the luxury of choice. If you want a life of self-actualization and realization you need to identify with the hero. The life of the hero is the only way to live. It is specifically and custom made for you – the individual. It requires that you turn unexplored territory into explored. It requires that you step out of your comfort zone. It requires that you build yourself out of external forces to propel yourself into greatness. It requires a thirst for life. It requires fight. It requires you being uncomfortable. How do you live the life of the hero? By following the things that have meaning for you. By paying attention to the structure of your being. By following the things that manifest themselves as interesting to you. Egyptians worshipped the human eye because they understood that it was the thing that paid attention. There is a game in the Harry Potter franchise called Quidich and how you win that game is by following this golden snitch that beckons all around. The golden snitch is so fast in its movements that it is almost impossible to detect it with your eyes. The golden snitch requires special attention and a “seeker” from either team is assigned to retrieve it. The golden snitch requires someone of great focus, someone with great determination, someone who is creative and is willing to do anything to get it. The golden snitch represents chaos and the one who retrieves the snitch wins the match for his team because he has instilled order. The message of the game of Quidich is simple; follow what you are interested in, it will be difficult sure, it will hell of course, but it will make you a better person. A person with character and strength. A hardened, knowledgeable machine who is self-sufficient and confident. The life of the hero will make life bearable. The life of the hero will give you control. The life of the hero will make you great. God is alive and you honor him by being the best that you can be. You honor him by approaching great uncertainty and making it a certainty. You honor God by instilling order in your life.

Never be afraid, approach action with boldness, be comfortable in being uncomfortable, fight, discover uncharted territory, identity with the hero, bring order to chaos, be masculine energy to the feminine, bring light to the night, discover the unknown and conquer nihilism with your dreams and goals. Don’t let anyone deter you. God is on your side. God is being at peace with yourself. God is manifesting your talents. God is you. God is everything you touch and do. Identity with the archetypal son, be Horus, Jesus, Spiderman, be Neo on the matrix, the one – be yourself and explore!

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Good and Bad

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Good and bad

Would I be an Adolf Hitler or a Josef Stalin or Mao? Would I be the person credited for almost ending the world if I had absolute power? Am I a good person or am I evil? Am I in control of my actions or just a puppet stringed along in this parody of a play called life? Is there such a thing called freewill? Is there such a thing called freedom? Am I really conscious? Do I really have thoughts or I am just deluded and everything I know comes from culture and mythology. Do I have it in me to kill in cold blood? To take away existence, confiscate the human soul out of its confines? Do I have faith? Do I believe in God, myself? Am I terrified of death? Can I put my trust in man? Do I have a hatred of life? Would torturing a human being bring me pleasure? Do I love myself? Am I happy? Would I kill my brother and rape my sister? Would I starve millions to make a point? Would I blame others for my inadequacies? Am I the image of God or extremely flawed? Is this all of life; the trees, mountains, seas and the sky? What is the end goal of life? Is it the continual suffering of mankind as stated in religion, mythology and philosophy? Is life worth it? Isn’t ending it mercy? After all consciousness is a disease one that will plague humankind till its doom.

I am intrigued with the subject of bad and evil – the subject of morality. For years religion has been the driver of instilling morality in society. It contrasted “good” with evil very vivid with the fabrication of heaven and hell. It is a very sophisticated analogy. Heaven is a utopia, a place where suffering is not permitted. While Hell is a place of torment and demons that eat you alive. Life is energy and religion teaches us to practice things that have a high positive energy level. Things that are good for the continual species of man. Religion teaches reason, regulation of impulses and emotions, self-actualization and most importantly love and peace. These ideas or topics calibrate at a high conscious level, they build the soul and make life bearable – they take you to heaven. On the other side of the coin, it depicts a picture of evil. On the tale of Cain and Able, the bible depicts evil as a cancer cell that starts slow and gradually, undetected it multiply like compound interest ultimately consuming all of your soul. Evil is bad. Evil is not conducive. It makes life wither. It operates at a negative energy life. It is hidden and life threatening like the thief in the night. The story of Cain and Able is a very interesting. Cain and Able are the first humans in the world; they come from Adam and Eve while Adam and Eve were created by God. It is because of that, that I can relate better with Cain and Able considering that I am also human. The story tells the tale of how Cain killed his brother Able, because he was favored by God. Cain killed Able to spite God, to hurt God, he killed everything he wanted to be (his brother) to spite the world and it was a conscious action. Rejected by God on a constant, Cain was hurt and he started being conscious of how he felt. Knowing how he felt was the realization and consciousness that he could hurt the world, God and he did it because evil had consumed his soul. Was he wrong to do it? What criteria are we using? Objectively sure because killing another human being is wrong. However, subjectively how can we be sure? Everyone has a little evil in his soul? Cain’s evil just grew. Everyone has the capacity to kill. Before we can give the verdict we need to understand Cain on a subjective level because often truth is subjective. Didn’t God let down Cain?

Morality like Justice is a hard thing to factor in. Simply because we are human beings, navigating this world and our nature is not known to us. We don’t know what consciousness is and we are always in auto-pilot. Yes, we can stop for a while and contemplate for a while about the world and the events transpiring all around us. However those are not our thoughts, they come from the world, they come from the books that we have read, the movies we have seen, the music we hear, from religion, from philosophy, from academic institutions, the tales our families tell us – in a nutshell culture, we have no original thoughts – everything in the world is always getting refreshed and rebooted to meet our current stance – that’s if you have the right frequency and energy needed to merge with what’s in the world. The world is feminine energy – chaotic! Hidden to us like the reproductive organs of a female and maybe that’s why need we objective criteria to serve as order. However, we are deluding ourselves. We are all hypocrites. After all, If I had absolute power in Germany with the backing of the SS, at the back of World War one when Germany suffered greatly, In a period where War and invading other countries was the norm and with my specific make-up and how I grew up; maybe I could have been Adolf Hitler. Instigating war and killing people to prove that I am the ultimate alpha. Torturing people and experimenting with them like Guinea pigs. Propagating Propaganda because of my denial of death and attempts at immortality. Maybe I could have been Hitler invading other countries and killing its people. Spreading tyranny and fear with terrorism and death. Imposing my ideas on the world and killing Jews for my entertainment. With absolute power, what would I not do? We all have a little Hitler in ourselves. Maybe I would have been Hitler had I been born in the age that he was born into, had I experienced everything that he experienced as a boy, maybe I would have been Hitler had I been in the Socialist party. I could have been Hitler, a bad man, an evil man in the objective criteria of the world. He is a bad man, an evil man because he violated people. He stripped people off their dignity, of their manhood. He experimented on people and tortured them while they were still alive. He killed people. The thing that makes you a good person is empathy and sympathy. Hitler did not have that and I can conclude that he was a bad man, an evil man.

The topic of good and bad is a difficult one because when is good bad or bad good? Is it definite like math or infinite like numbers? The beauty of the tales in the bible is that they can be interpreted in a million views. I don’t think Cain is bad or evil. He committed a bad and evil crime but considering he is human, he can be saved and redeemed. He killed Able because he operated on the lower levels of consciousness. Fortunately when you are down, the only way to go is up! With love, an energy force calibrating higher than everything he can be saved. He can find Peace and Joy and later attain Enlightenment. Cain can be the light of the world if we don’t lose faith in him.

In the Spiderman franchise Directed by Sam Raimi we see a drastic change in Spiderman’s character and demeanor. He goes from being bright and positive swinging from building to building to being dark, edgy and angry. This is reflected on the change of costumes from Red and Blue to completely Black. What we know about Spiderman from the first two installments of the movie is that he tries to use his powers for the benefit of humankind. He saves people from physical harm. He dedicates himself to the salvation of men. He is at the peril of men. Crime is very low in the busy city of New York City. He instills order in the chaotic city of New York. He is a hero. He is also morally aligned, he always does good things not necessarily for him but for everyone else. As Peter Parker he denies himself the pleasures of the world like being with the woman he loves Mary-Jane Watson because he is Spiderman. He is often broke, failing to pay rent in his little apartment room that is fit for a peasant. And because he is always out in about saving the world, he doesn’t have the time to do his assignments resulting in the accumulation of poor grades. His professor thinks he is brilliant though and doesn’t understand why Peter Parker just won’t apply himself more. Peter Parker is heroic in all spheres of life. The juggling of his superhero life, personal life, academic life and he still has a job as a photographer for the city’s newspaper company – his efforts are honorable and superb. Despite the fact that he is often broke, he doesn’t have the urge to rob a bank or shop, I find that admirable. The best quote of the whole franchise is “I believe there’s a hero in all of us that keeps us honest, noble and finally allows us to die with pride. Even though sometimes we have to be steady and give up the things we want the most. Even our dreams.” It is a powerful quote, one that defines the life of Peter Parker.

Everything in Peter Parker’s life changes when he learns that the man who killed his uncle on the first installment of the movie is still alive and remarkably escaped the confines of prison. Filled with outrage and anger, Peter Parker puts on his Black suit costume and hunts down “Flint Marco”. He hunts him down with the intention of killing him. He locates him and they engage in battle. Peter Parker wins the battle and the last words he utters are “Good riddance” indicating the demise of Marco Flint. It is the first time that we see Spiderman doing something that is morally wrong. What he committed was not justice. This was frontier justice – it is putting the law in your hands. What gives you the right to murder someone else? Is it because he murdered your uncle years ago? That is not a justified response. It is wrong. Oswaldo Mowbray (the Hangman of Red Rock) explores “Frontier Justice” on the brilliant Quentin Tarantino movie “The Hateful Eight” released in 2013. “If you’re found guilty, the people of Red Rock will hang you in the Town Square. And as the Hang Man, I will perform the execution. And, if all those things end up taking place, that’s what civilized society calls ‘Justice’. , However, if the relatives, and the loved ones of the person you murdered were outside that door right now, and after BUSTING down that door….they drag you out into the snow and hang you up by the neck, that would be Frontier Justice. To me it doesn’t matter what you did. When I hang you I’ll get no satisfaction from your death. It’s my job. I hang you in Red Rock, I move on to the next town. I hang someone else there.”

Luckily Marco Flint survived. Spiderman would have killed an innocent man. Marco Flint was a victim of circumstance. Yes, he killed Uncle Ben but he didn’t intent to. He was not even aggressive and hostile towards him. His only mistake was that the gun was loaded and it went off accidentally. Marco Flint was an accident murder. It was not his intent to kill Uncle Ben. He didn’t want to resort to robbing people to get money but he needed to do that. He had a motive. A morally justified motive. His daughter was dying and he needed money to save her. That was his only crime, his love for his daughter. Marco Flint committed murder but is he a bad and evil man? Cain killed Able to spite the world, God and himself. Is he a bad and evil man? Hitler, Stalin and Mao killed millions for their amusement. Are they bad and evil men? Where do we draw the line? What is our criteria? Which murder is morally correct? Which man is good? Which man is bad? Can you honestly state that you are a good person and believe it?

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Culture is God

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Culture is God

For over 3000 years art has been an effective instrument utilized to instigate and propagate propaganda. To communicate wealth, kings would have their thrones custom made in gold. They would have statues of themselves erected to signify dominance and unadulterated power. Art was grand and bold. Art was truthful. Art was forever. Propaganda means to tell one side of the story great. For that to be achieved, we need theatricality and a truckload of charisma. We need the narcissistic and egotistical character to impose himself on the world and lay claim to being a god. We need symbols with meanings, paintings of portraits and parades on the streets with people exhibiting their skills in an art form known as dance to communicate a feeling of happiness or to spread fear and flex muscles in the form of a military parade. Art is emotive. It makes us feel, it engages our feelings and regulates our emotions. Art is powerful. Art is dramatic, it has flair. The best utilization of art as propaganda can be found in history. Particularly in the 1930’s in Germany. Adolf Hitler’s Nazi party were at the helm of Germany. The aim was to restore Germany’s status in the world as a powerhouse. It had been crippled in World War one, and Hitler had ambitions of restoring it. To do this, everyone in Germany had to pledge allegiance to Hitler. Everyone had to be loyal to Hitler. Everyone had to give their lives to Hitler or simply run the risk of being killed. Hitler had a minister of propaganda who would propagate the word in the form movies and music. Children in primary school all the way to tertiary institutions started off the day singing a mandatory anthem about Hitler’s greatness and how he is Germany’s savior. Hitler proclaimed his book “Mein Kampf” as the bible of Germany and passed a law that every household in Germany should possess it and study it with great rigor and enthusiasm. The Nazi symbol (Swastika) bombarded every street and corner of Germany – it was all that people saw, all that they knew. With the aid of art, Adolf Hitler transformed himself into a literal God. He had real power, he was respected and he was feared. His military parades were so majestic and grandiose with the image of Swastikas in a form of flags and big posters everywhere; with the crowd cheering and saluting with their right hands in the air. Hitler was propaganda embodied and being an artist himself, he made it an art form.

Adolf Hitler is not the only person to use art as propaganda. Religion institutions like the Catholic Church are one of the best to ever do it. The statues they have erected are so beautiful. The architecture of their churches – it’s so sublime, so extraterrestrial and yet calming, conservative and reassuring. The inside of the church is spectacular – they have mini fountains, statues of personnel in the bible and the most beautiful paintings. Leonardo Da Vinci was one of the artists who contributed in the churches art. He painted one of the most remarkable and beautiful paintings ever, notably the last supper – it was realistic, alive, animated, spirited and energetic. The picture is exactly what God and bible were conveying. Leonardo Da Vinci did it, he hit the nail right on top of the head. The church has this impressive aura, from their paintings, the churches architecture, their statues, their props, the congregation – they are magnificent! In 2019, we still see propaganda propagated in widespread areas. In Gauteng, Sandton resides a bronze statue of first democratically elected president Nelson Mandela. It is huge and commemorative. Like the Grand Canyon, tourists from all parts of life frequent it to take pictures and busk in its glory and magnificence. There is also a majestic bridge located in Newtown, Johannesburg that is named after the great man. It is a beautiful piece of architecture that draws tourists in. It is grand and sublime. At night, it lights up in a way that almost takes your breath away – it is so beautiful. Nelson Mandela was a great man, however mortality meant that he was limited. Art and culture has elevated his name in the realm of immortality and gods.

Religion was created to help us with fundamental issues of existence namely ethics, morality and values. Like Philosophy it taught how to live – but in a reserved and calculated manner. It helped with nihilistic thoughts and depression. It gave us a reason to live. By negating the material world in favor of a Heaven or Utopia, it unloaded the burden on our shoulders and made us strive for an ideal. It was beautiful, subtle and effective. The world had an order. People’s behaviors could be predicted. There was harmony in communities. Conduct was born, to be different meant a transgression to society, so that was avoided by all means. Everyone strived to be a “good” person. Religion created that culture in communities, in all parts of the world. It created the culture of empathy and sympathy – the essence of being a good person, it created a culture of order and it created a culture of submissiveness. As a crowd management system, it had its frailties that were exposed in the dawn of the industrial revolution. People in their numbers now lived in the city. The city was confined and restricted with no trees or an ecosystem that supported life. Life in the city was stressful, demanding and expedient. Religion had protected people from the notion and truth that life was suffering and now everything was unfolding – people’s lives were falling apart. Religion did not have the tools or answers to help people deal with their demanding lives. Heaven as a consolation prize for the suffering evident and prevailing was not enough. This resulted in people having nihilistic thoughts. 21st Century philosopher Nietzsche professed that “God was dead!” on his amazing work “Thus Spoke Zarathustra”. It was a fair assessment of reality and the future.

Now in 2019, on the 4th industrial revolution with the emergence of artificially created life, we see the evidence of god’s death. More and more people now live in cities as opposed to small intimate villages in a community where everyone knows one another. Life is on the fast lane and church isn’t even in the car. It is trailing behind, losing a drag race by miles. Life is even more demanding, life is more stressful and life is more expedient. Thinking is a luxury! Loneliness and depression are the epidemics of the world. Suicide rates are skyrocketing. Crime at an all-time high and Capitalism – the new culture of the world destroying religion making sure that we feed on one another like cannibalistic life forms. The capitalistic system is god. The capitalistic system is culture. It has devoured religions ethics, morality and values leaving the population confused about their self-identity, about a self-campus on where to go. We are about in the wild chasing novelty after novelty. Lost. Empty. The song “No Church in the Wild” by Jay –Z & Kanye West explores our reality in great detail. It is about how everything is permitted in a world where god is dead. The visuals for this song is the most powerful thing you will ever see. Both Jay –Z & Kanye West are exempted from the video, instead we see a movie where there is a lot of chaos, fighting and death. It is the artist’s job to reflect the world to the people, a job Jay –Z and Kanye West did remarkably well with high distinction. It is a piece of art that will immortalize them. It is brilliant.

Kanye West is one of the few artists in the world to understand the role of art, to understand the power that it has. He is an intelligent man who aligns himself with the outlandish and provocative. He does this because he understands the order of the world. He does this because he knows culture, rules. To shift culture, you have to be unconventional, mysterious, unpredictable and a loose screw. Being unpredictable makes you powerful. This is a skill that Kanye West has mastered all his life. In 2007, Kim Kardashian released a sex-tape on the internet with then boyfriend “Ray J”. It was a strategic ploy on her side to attain power. It was a bold move, it was gritty, gutsy and it was scandalous! She became an instant star. She had a great body and her boyfriend was a celebrity. She was all the internet talked about. Fresh from the release of his mega successful album Graduation in 2007, Kanye West started courting Kim Kardashian. With the trajectory of his career on the ascendency he saw an opportunity. Kim Kardashian’s public persona was too good for him to pass up on, it was scandalous, promiscuous, bold, gutsy, sexy, forbidden and phallic. Kim Kardashian was extremely powerful and he (Kanye) knew this. Ultimately, he married Kim and Kim Kardashian married a successful, rapper and entrepreneur who graced the cover of “Times” magazine thus legitimizing her brand and image. The marriage was a perfect fit. As a couple, they had influence, they had power and they would be the talk of popular culture. 2013 saw the release of his sixth album “Yeezus”. Once again, he had aligned himself with a powerful figure “Jesus Christ”. It was typical Kanye who freed himself from all the barriers and boxes that contained everyone else. From that move, naturally he was all that people could talk about. With the aid of art, he became mythical. It was propaganda, by aligning himself with “Jesus Christ”, a cult-like following emerged and started creating pictures of him as Jesus. It was a frenzy. It made him powerful. Soon enough, everyone was imitating him – now the world had artists like “Reazus” and “Teezus”. Kanye West was idolized and worshipped.

The internet has bestowed on to people the power to be gods. Art is something we could use to improve that god-like status. The danger of the internet is that it has also created illusions. Being headstrong is a requirement. The “death of god” has to have a powerful effect on us. We have to do things for ourselves and have the courage to live life in its totality. We have to be brave and venture out in the world with a strong belief in ourselves and our abilities. God cannot do anything for us because everything was fabricated by culture – and culture is made up of people like me and you. Everything in the world is made up of culture and influence. Love is cultural invention – initially it was an escape from our loneliness and boredom. The internet has gifted us the opportunity to be better, to be influential, and to be gods.

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The Sublime

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The Sublime

Throughout history tragedy has been an instrument that has shaped how we have lived our lives. It was tragedy that communicated how fragile our lives were actually are. It was tragedy that undressed our deepest anxieties, namely the fear of death. Tragedies said that we are confined in our mortal decaying bodies. It was a useful analogy. The Greeks were articulate at expressing this point – they would stage this in a form of dramas and people from all parts of life would come dressed in their best outfits to witness this spectacle on stage, mortality and death were dramatized. Fast forward a couple of years later and we have the news. The news are food for the amygdala! They are fear driven and they are effective because of that regard. They keep us glued to our screens, feeding us with our daily doses of chaos, destruction and deaths in a form of statistics. Stalin once stated one death is a tragedy but a million deaths a statistic, useful and thought-provoking sentiment in the context of the news. Are we sick for being so addicted to the news and all the anxieties and stress they bring? Partly, human beings are not perfect – in fact, we are extremely flawed. However, news are effective, the have a purpose, granted they are food for the amygdala but they connect us to our primitive sides – the will to survive. They remind us of the volatile nature of the world – the fact that nothing is guaranteed. The news are a home for human nature. The news are tragic! Because life is suffering, we need to be reminded of the tragic on a constant so that our internal structure and method of being is hardened. So that we don’t have passive minds and attempt to try the new every opportunity we get. Life is a gift, a celebration of some sort and we should live by embracing our talents. We get a limited time to do it and that’s suffering aspect of it but if we are true to ourselves, it can become an eternity. We shouldn’t be divorced from death, death is the catalyst, the driving force that should in actuality push us to the life we desire. Death is good, death is wonderful and as such we should be connected with it every time, remind ourselves of our mortality and strive to make the best of the limited time we have.

Death is the sublime! The consciousness that everything fades and everything is a lapse in time that will cease to exist. It is the realization that even the Universe is at the mercy of something bigger, that it too will be extinct like the dinosaurs and in the near future – like human beings. Death is the problem solver. Mothernatures way of refreshing things and keeping them moving. Death is inspiring, it is driven, motivated, determined, irrational, strong-willed and businesslike. Death is bigger than all of us. Death should be worshipped. Meditating on death or keeping ornaments that remind us of death every day will make our lives better. Our lives will be structured and we will be goal-orientated individuals. Our self-perceptions of ourselves will be higher resulting in high self-esteem and confidence that will enable us to live. We will be fulfilled individuals with the will to impose ourselves to the world. We will nurture the Universes’ soul with the happiness that we will bring to the world. Death is an intellectual concept we could use to better ourselves to create more, be more – to self-actualize! Death is not the only thing we could use. The sublime is something bigger than you, bigger than life! Time fits the category; there was a time before me and you and there will be a time after me and you. By elevating your perspective and using time strategically, you can have a meaningful life. It can be structured, calculated and custom made. By making time an ally, you can make your wildest dreams come true.

In 2003, Manchester United were having one of their pre-season games against Sporting Lisbon. The team for the upcoming season was strengthened and Manchester United were once again one of the favorites along with Arsenal to land the big premier league trophy. Against Sporting Lisbon, Legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson fielded a strong side to test the boys against Lisbon. Lisbon were impressive. They played good, free-flowing football. It was fast and direct. At the heart of their offensive play was young Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo dawning the number 28 jersey number on the left flank. At times, he was unplayable. He had a charisma in his play. He was quick, deceptive, had good passing range, his decision making was superb, he was a showman and dazzled the crowd with his skills, he could shoot with both legs, was a good crosser of the ball and he was only 17 years old. At the end of the game, the Manchester United players went to their manager and told him to sign the young Portuguese, the manager concurred – it was a no brainer, this boy was destined to be a star! It didn’t take long for Manchester United to get their man and before the season commenced he was officially a Manchester United player dawning the iconic number 7 jersey worn by Eric Cantona and David Beckham. The young Cristiano Ronaldo would serve his apprenticeship phase under the tutelage of the greatest manager in the world at the best club in the world. Expectations were high and he seemed geared up and ready to take over the world.

A couple of years later and he was one the exciting and best young players in the league. He had developed into a supreme, elite football star. He was a better dribbler, picked the best moments to showboat, he was one of the best crossers of the league, he was a fantastic header of the ball, his shots were on target more and he had become a deadly dead ball specialist scoring free-kick goals for fun. He regularly scored more than 20 goals in the league ensuring Manchester United’s dominance in the league. It wasn’t a fluke too. The young Portuguese worked hard. Carlos Tevez his teammate 2007-2009 once told reporters about Ronaldo’s will to be the best. He stated “I wanted to work on my shooting so I came in an hour earlier before the training session and he (Ronaldo) was already there training. So the next day, I came in two hours earlier and although he (Ronaldo) was a bit tired he was already there training.” Cristiano Ronaldo was always the first person on the training pitch and he was always the last one to leave. He was there 2 hours before everyone and stayed on 2 hours after everyone had left. He embarked on what we call “Deliberate Practice”: For 4 hours every day he would work on shooting drills, free-kicks and other soccer related things. He did it every day, even when the tasks would become passive, boring and repetitive. He learned to discipline his mind and work hard consistently. He was obsessed with being the best player in the world. In 2008, he was named the PFA’s Player of the year and PFA’s players’ player of the year. In addition to that he was named UEFA’s best player of the year for leading Manchester United to the trophy. He was also named FIFA player of the year and won the Ballon D’Or Award – an award given for individual performance. It was a clean sweep of all the awards. It was warranted too, he impressively lead Manchester United to the treble (Premier League, FA Cup and UEFA Champions League) scoring a whopping 42 goals in all competitions in which 31 were in the league – A record that stood for 9 years. Amongst those goals is one of the greatest goals in the history of the premier league, a stunning free-kick that will never be replicated no matter how many times you practice.

After that amazing season, Europe’s heavyweights started knocking on Manchester United’s door. Showing strong intent to purchase Cristiano Ronaldo were Real Madrid who were prepared to shutter the world transfer record to bring the star to the Santiago Bernabou. Cristiano Ronaldo was interested, citing that it was a dream to play for Real Madrid. However, Manchester United weren’t keen on letting their superstar go. So, a compromise was reached. Sir Alex Ferguson convinced Cristiano Ronaldo to play one more season at Old Trafford and after that he is free to leave for Real Madrid. Cristiano Ronaldo obliged. It was another great season for Cristiano Ronaldo as Manchester United once again won the league and were in the finals of the UEFA Champions League. Manchester United were hoping to defend their crown and with Cristiano Ronaldo on their side who had scored the best goal of the competition (A 40 yard shot that hit the top corner against Porto) they had a chance. Their opponents in the final of the Champions League were FC Barcelona who had won the league with an impressive 99 points. They had also won the Spanish Cup and were hoping to make it a treble. It was a going to be a magnificent final and the stage was epic, Rome was all geared up! It was a fantastic start for Cristiano Ronaldo and Manchester United as they had FC Barcelona in comprising positions. A noteworthy highlight was Cristiano Ronaldo’s goal bound free-kick saved by Victor Valdes. FC Barcelona however got their noses in front and it stayed that way for the duration of the game. They played extremely well and introduced a new brand of football to the world. The football of shot passes, diagonal passes, passing into space, running into space and triangle formations. Xavi Hernandez made the midfield his and bossed Manchester United alongside Andreas Iniesta. Sergio Busquets was deployed as a CDM and Yaya Toure was a CB. FC Barcelona wanted to retain possession with the type of tactics they deployed in that game. Later in the second half of the game, a new star was introduced to the world namely Lionel Messi who scored an amazing header from a Xavi Hernandez cross to take the game away from Cristiano Ronaldo and Manchester United. The game finished 2-0 in favor of FC Barcelona and they had done it – they had successfully completed the treble! Later that year it was Lionel Messi who had a clean sweep of the awards and dethroned Cristiano Ronaldo as the best player in the world. It was only the beginning of the rivalry between these great players.

In 2009 Real Madrid announced the signing of Cristiano Ronaldo. It was a world record fee of 100 Million. They also bought 2007 Ballon D’Or winner Ricardo Kaka who was in his prime. To add to their attack they completed the signing of Karim Benzema who was branded the next best thing from Lyon. The signings provided real intent to topple FC Barcelona’s dominance and reign in Spain. Earlier in the year FC Barcelona had humiliated Real Madrid 6-2 at the Santiago Bernabou. A drastic change was needed. Florentino Perez, the president of Real Madrid also brought in Manuel Pellegrini to be at the helm of the team. There was optimism in the air. Throughout the season, Real Madrid were strong contenders for the league battling it out until the last day of the season. Real Madrid however came out short and ended the season with 96 points to FC Barcelona’s 98 points. There were positives though. In his first season at Real Madrid, their star man Cristiano Ronaldo scored an awesome 26 goals in the league. Real Madrid however did get knocked out of the UEFA Champions League last 16 phase and did nothing of note in the Spanish Cup. While Lionel Messi and FC Barcelona were headlining the tournament. In a game against Arsenal at the Camp Nou – a game in which FC Barcelona were trailing Arsenal 1 to 0, Lionel Messi scored an awesome 4 goals! He was untouchable! He was unstoppable! In a post-match interview, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger proclaimed that he was the greatest player in the history of the game. It wasn’t just him, football pundits exploded with praise for the young Argentine star. Once again, Cristiano Ronaldo witnessed Lionel Messi take all the awards and the acclaimed that came with it.

Writing-off the previous season as a disaster, Real Madrid decided to go with a manager who would match their lofty ambitions. They identified Jose Mourinho as the guy who would dethrone FC Barcelona and retain Real Madrid’s status as one of the best teams in the world. Jose Mourinho had just won the treble with Italian Side Inter Milan. It was Mourinho’s Milan side who had knocked out FC Barcelona on the Champions League Semi-finals. At San Siro, they managed to beat FC Barcelona 3-1 playing swift and deadly counter-attacking football that was too much for the Catalan outfit. They lost 1-0 at the Camp Nou but won on aggregate 3-2 and that result was enough for them to progress through to the finals of the Champions League against Bayern Munich. A final they triumphed courtesy of two Diego Milito goals. It was Jose Mourinho who would bring glory to Real Madrid. To aid Jose Mourinho in his quest Real Madrid bought two of the best talents exhibited in the World Cup in South Africa namely Angel Di Maria and Mesut Ozil. Xabi Alonzo was brought in from Liverpool and his compatriot Ricardo Carvalho from Chelsea. Having come so close last season, now the team that could challenge FC Barcelona this season was complete. FC Barcelona lost their opening game against Hercules 2-0 and it gave Real Madrid an open window to capitalize, a chance they didn’t pass up on. Both teams would have to meet up in the run in. Leading up to the big El Classico game, both teams were red hot playing exquisite football. They were thrilling the fans and scoring a lot of goals. Cristiano Ronaldo was Real Madrid’s talisman while Lionel Messi was FC Barcelona’s talisman. The big day at the Camp Nou came and everyone was buzzing. Although, Real Madrid hadn’t beaten FC Barcelona in 5 competitive games – this time was different, they were at the helm of the log and were not planning on relinquishing their top spot. They had the right players to challenge FC Barcelona and the best manager in the world at the time. Despite all those positives, the game finished 5-0 in favor of FC Barcelona. Once again, FC Barcelona had humiliated Real Madrid in front of a global audience of over 600 million viewers. FC Barcelona were better in every department. Somehow, it looked like they were faster. Real Madrid were like unfit amateurs. They couldn’t get the ball of FC Barcelona. They chased and chased in vain with nothing to show for it. Xavi Hernandez, Andreas Iniesta and Lionel Messi were wonderful. Lionel Messi was deployed as a false number nine, so he could assist in midfield and create space for David Villa and Pedro Rodriguez on the flanks. Real Madrid didn’t know how to counter this formation. It was strange and unorthodox. Lionel Messi provided two wonderful assists that were dispatched by David Villa. The world had never seen football played like that.

A couple of months later, FC Barcelona were comfortably at the helm of the table. They were in the Spanish Cup final and their opponents were Real Madrid. Coincidentally, they also drew Real Madrid in the semi-finals of the champion’s league. The Spanish Cup finals went into extra-time, an occasion that needed a hero. Cristiano Ronaldo stepped up and scored a wonderful header that won Real Madrid the cup. Finally, a change of momentum, a change of fortune, Real Madrid were elated with the result and Cristiano Ronaldo who had been great all season had led them to the promise land. The focus shifted from the Spanish Cup to the Champions League. The first leg was at the Santiago Bernabou and the Madrid hopefuls were optimistic. Real Madrid had a real change of eliminating FC Barcelona, of winning the Champions League. Paul the Octopus who had predicted the success of Spain in the World Cup finals against Holland was brought in and he predicted a Real Madrid win. Everything seemed to be in Real Madrid’s favor – even luck, Jose Mourinho had transformed Real Madrid. Lionel Messi however had other plans. In the last 15 minutes of the games, he passed Ibrahim Affaley on the left flank who in turn crossed it the box for an incoming Messi who dispatched it with a fantastic finish. 5 minutes later, he was fouled in the center of the pitch. He took a quick free-kick and passed Sergio Busquets who in turn passed it back and Messi dribbled past 5 Real Madrid players and scored. It was a classic goal. The Santiago Bernabou didn’t believe what it had just witnessed. Some fans started leaving after that goal despite there being 10 minutes left, it was over. FC Barcelona won 2-0 away and looked poised to play in the finals. The result of the second leg was 1-1 which meant that FC Barcelona would play the final against Manchester United at the Wembley Stadium. FC Barcelona ended up winning the final 3-1. They also won the league. The Spanish Cup proved to be a consolation prize as FC Barcelona won all the big honors. Cristiano Ronaldo however scored an amazing 40 league goals breaking a record that was held by Real Madrid legend Hugo Sanchez for more than 40 years. He scored an impressive 54 goals in all competitions and won the European Golden Boot. Lionel Messi scored an impressive 53 goals in all competitions and managed to score 31 league goals. For the third time in his career, Cristiano Ronaldo watched Lionel Messi take all the awards that were available. At this point in his career, he was the undisputed best player of 3 years.

Although Cristiano Ronaldo was not winning individual awards, he was playing exceptional well. He and Messi had raised the bar so high. Ronaldo however thought that this season would be the year that Real Madrid eclipsed FC Barcelona. Everyone was working hard and they all understood their roles. For this season, the plan was to win the league. European Champions FC Barcelona had a long schedule and Real Madrid understood that fatigue would be a factor for FC Barcelona, what they needed to do on their side was to stay perfect and win games. They started off well and carried on winning. FC Barcelona followed suite but were struggling. FC Barcelona had key members of the squad like David Villa and Carles Puyol injured early on. They labored on some games and drew a couple. Real Madrid just kept on winning. The big game came El Classico and was contested at the Santiago Bernabou. The game started off great for the home side Real Madrid who got a goal in the opening 5 minutes through Karim Benzema. However, FC Barcelona equalized through Alexis Sanchez. Xavi Hernandez scored the second and Cesc Fabregas scored a third goal to take the game away from Real Madrid. The score finished 3-1 in favor of FC Barcelona. That result however did not dethrone Real Madrid at the helm, it merely reduced the deficit to 1 point. Real Madrid carried on winning games while the games piled up for FC Barcelona and the injury list kept on getting bigger. In the process FC Barcelona won the UEFA Super Cup, The Spanish Super Cup and the Club World Cup. When they returned to playing league football, they were fatigued and labored through results. While Real Madrid were playing the best football in Europe. Jose Mourinho’s side were irresistible! They played the best counter-attacking football the world has ever seen. It was one touch football, it was direct, concise and devastating. Teams didn’t know how to cope with it. Xabi Alonso, Angel Di Maria, Mesut Ozil, Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo were phenomenal! They would win 9-0 or 8-0 or 7-1. Mesut Ozil racked up an impressive number of assists. He had 20 more assists than second placed Lionel Messi in Europe across all competitions. Cristiano Ronaldo was scoring goals for fun. After a couple of months Real Madrid and FC Barcelona met at the Camp Nou for the second leg of their league encounter. Real Madrid were at the helm of the log leading FC Barcelona with 4 points. FC Barcelona had to win if they were to have any chance at defending their title. It was a tight encounter and at half time the score was 1-1. The second half commenced and the game required a hero. Cristiano Ronaldo stepped up and finished a swift counter-attacking move. After scoring he celebrated and popularized his iconic “calma” celebration. The Camp Nou was deaf quiet. The match finished 2-1 in favor of Real Madrid. Real Madrid lost on penalties against Bayern Munich on the Champions League semi-finals. However, it was still a successful year. They had achieved what they wanted to do. They had dethroned FC Barcelona and won the league with a staggering 100 points! A feat only achieved by Italian Champions Juventus under Conte. They achieved it playing great football and scoring plenty of goals in the process. Cristiano Ronaldo scored an impressive 46 league goals beating his own record that he achieved last season of 40 goals. He managed to score 60 goals in all competitions. Lionel Messi however scored an unbelievable 50 league goals that season. He was the Champions League top goal scorer with 12 and finished the season with 73 goals in all competitions. He also broke Gerrald Mullers record of 85 goals in a calendar year – scoring an unbelievable 91 goals in a year! For the fourth time in his career, Ronaldo watched as Lionel Messi took all the awards.

In 2013, the general consensus was that Cristiano Ronaldo would always be second best to Lionel Messi – that nothing he did was enough. To be fair, it was partly true. In another time, another period Cristiano Ronaldo’s stats would be enough to make him one of the greatest players of all time. However Messi’s presence was hindering him a place in the stars, a chance at immortality –to be a true great of the game. Football pundits were sympathetic while Cristiano Ronaldo was pragmatic. All that mattered to him was getting better. The season commenced and Lionel Messi was at his usual best. He led a rampant FC Barcelona who wanted the league back. They were ruthless and unforgiving. Lionel Messi made history by becoming the first player to score against all the teams of the league consecutively – simply put he scored every game. It put FC Barcelona way ahead of the pack in log. However fate smiled at Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi got an injury in the last 2 months of the season. It was unfortunate for Lionel Messi but great for Ronaldo. Messi’s injury didn’t hurt FC Barcelona as they matched Real Madrid 100 points of the previous season. While Real Madrid finished 18 points behind. Lionel Messi scored an unbelievable 46 league goals and won the European Golden Boot that season. However the Ballon D’Or ceremony would be in January and it merits work done in a calendar year. With Lionel Messi’s injury Cristiano Ronaldo had a chance. Lionel Messi aggravated his injury and that prolonged his stay on the sidelines for an additional 3 months. Something that seemed to motivate Cristiano Ronaldo. In the month of September he scored 3 hatricks in a space of 2 weeks while playing for both club and country. With Messi on the sideline, he had the stage on his own and he was rejuvenated. He scored a wonderful 63 goals in the calendar year and despite not winning any honors for Real Madrid he was announced as the best player at the Ballon D’Or Awards. Cristiano Ronaldo was emotional on the stage as he cried. All these years, he had been number two when his efforts merited number one was hard for him. It was a release. It was well deserved.

In 2014 Cristiano Ronaldo carried off were he had left off last year. A new coach in Carlo Ancelotti was appointed and the future seemed bright. Carlo Ancelotti was an experienced manager who had won titles all over the world. He had previously lead AC Milan to two European titles and with the current crop of players – he would be the one to bring La Decima to Real Madrid and Florentino Perez. Real Madrid were playing well with their Carlo Ancelotti inspired 4-3-3 formation. The players were rejuvenated after the sacking of Jose Mourinho. Cristiano Ronaldo had found a second release. He had a swagger. He was in the moment. He owned the title of being the world’s best! Real Madrid were exciting and played a brand of football that got them plenty of goals. Everyone was chipping in with goals as players like Karim Benzema rediscovered their form. Gareth Bale who had been just signed from Spurs for a world record fee joined in the party and found his stay at Real Madrid to be a pleasant one. For their efforts Real Madrid were in the finals of the Spanish Cup against their fierce rivals FC Barcelona. Cristiano Ronaldo was suspended for the final because of disciplinary reasons but they still beat FC Barcelona to win the cup 2-1 courtesy of a Bale solo goal that was worthy to be a match winner. Real Madrid’s city rivals Atletico Madrid won the league on the last day against FC Barcelona at the Camp Nou courtesy of a Diego Godin equalizer. Had FC Barcelona won the match, they would have won the league. However, it wasn’t meant to be. Real Madrid were in the finals of the UEFA Champions League against city rival Atletico Madrid. A final they won 4-1 after extra time. Cristiano Ronaldo had scored a staggering 17 goals in 11 games in the competition. This led to him being named as UEFA’s best player of the year. He was once again named the best player in the world at the Ballon D’Or awards. Now he had 3 Ballon D’Ors to Messi’s 4.

2015 saw drastic overhaul in the FC Barcelona camp. For the first time in years they had failed to win a trophy. They needed a change of scenery. For this they sacked Head coach Gerardo Martino and brought in Luis Enrique. FC Barcelona bought PFA’s Player of the year Luis Suarez from Liverpool who despite a 10 match ban scored an incredible 31 goals in the league. FC Barcelona also bought the best midfielder in La Liga at the time Ivan Rakitic who played his football at Seville. Claudio Bravo was brought in from Real Sociedad and Marc-Andre ter Stegen from Germany. The result lead to FC Barcelona’s dominance in the league again as they managed to secure another treble of the league, the Spanish and Champions League. Lionel Messi was once again at the helm of football. He dethroned Cristiano Ronaldo after two years and won his 5th Ballon D’Or award. Cristiano Ronaldo was once again relegated to second place.

2016 saw the appointment of Zinedine Zidane as the head coach of Real Madrid and that immediately brought in changes. Despite FC Barcelona’s domestic dominance having won both the League and the Spanish Cup. Real Madrid were in the finals of the Champions League against city rivals Atletico Madrid. A repeat of the 2014 final. Real Madrid won the final courtesy of a penalty shoot-out and Cristiano Ronaldo won the best player of the tournament award having 16 goals in 11 games. He was also the top goal-scorer of the tournament. 2016 also marked the year of the European Championships that were happening in France. Portugal relied on their captain and talisman Cristiano Ronaldo to inspire them to the finals. Entering the tournament, Portugal were overwhelming underdogs. Making it past their group would be quite a remarkable feat. They drew all their group stage matches and ended the first round with 3 points. They qualified to the next round as one of the best number 3’s of the tournament. Amazingly they made it all the way to the finals against host nations France. Cristiano Ronaldo was vital in their bid to stay alive in the tournament. He scored important goals that helped the team progress. His leadership was evident as the team fought for one another. The team was highly spirited and motivated. They were hungry. They played like David and you had the feeling they were going to slay Goliath with every game they played. Their approach in the group stage was pragmatic but no matter, it had lead them to the Finals of the European Championships. The last time they had gotten this far was when they were hosting the games in 2004 when Greece beat them 1-0 in front of their fans. This time, it was different. There were no expectations attached to their name. France where the team under pressure to win as the host nation. The game commenced and before the half hour mark, Cristiano Ronaldo got an injury and had to be subbed off. It was a big blow for Portugal and their chances to win the match. However, they stayed strong and compact. They were stable and cemented. They fought for every ball and for one another. They frustrated France and the fans started to be restless. On the sideline Cristiano Ronaldo was cheering the boys on. He was motivating them and instilling belief in them. He did all this while on his crushes with his leg heavily bandaged. At 90 minutes, the game was still 0-0 and the Portuguese players started to believe. Before the game commenced for extra-time, Cristiano Ronaldo and the coach had encouraging words to impart on the players. Cristiano Ronaldo wanted this so badly, because he was a winner. Because his spirit was contagious, it got to the players and they also wanted to win it not only for their injured captain but for themselves. They played extra-time and at the second half of extra time Eder came in as a substitute and scored a goal for the Portuguese side. Cristiano Ronaldo became more animated on the sidelines after the goal, he began shouting out instructions to his teammates on the ground. Telling them to be compact and strong. He was passionate and in the moment! France threw the kitchen sink at Portugal but failed to score. And just like how Portugal had failed to win in front of their home fans in 2004 – France failed to win in 2016. It was a great triumph for the Portuguese side and Cristiano Ronaldo proudly lifted the trophy. It was a great moment in his career. He had won two European Competitions with both his club and country. He was a certified great, a football immortal and one of the best to ever do it! He was named the world’s best player once again taking the crown from Lionel Messi after one year. Now he had 4 Ballon D’Or awards to Messi’s 5.

The next season under the tutelage of Zinedine Zidane, Real Madrid won the league and retained the Champions League beating Juventus 4-1 in a final Cristiano Ronaldo dominated. He scored an impressive 16 goals and was named player of the tournament once again. He was named the best player in the world for a record 5 times equaling Lionel Messi’s record of 5 Ballon D’Or awards. Now there was no doubt. Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the greatest players to ever play the game. His childhood dream had been realized, his hardwork had paid off.

Cristiano Ronaldo relied on the Sublime namely time, because he was doing all he could every day. He understood that it would reflect on to the world. He refused to take anything for granted and kept playing at a very high level. He was able to motivate himself. He was confident of his abilities and despite what everyone said he knew it was only a matter of time. With deliberate practice he had attained mastery in a short number of years. Being immersed in something bigger than yourself – a god, death, destiny, the universe, will give your life purpose, it will help you in the times were you are most vulnerable, it will drive you and it will propel you to greatness. For Cristiano Ronaldo it was his destiny to be the greatest and he needed time to help him get there. Surround yourself with the sublime!

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