That idea is the axis of The Conscious Gamea work that combines spiritual teachings with football situations to reflect on personal responsibility, uncertainty and the way people interpret their experiences.
What began as a way to bring certain teachings to his children ended up becoming a project that took him six years to complete and that today seeks to reach readers far beyond sports fans.
The reflection that runs through the entire work is based on a simple question: how many people face life’s challenges without really understanding the rules that determine their decisions? A good part of the conversation that Meiler had exclusively with DIARIO LAS AMÉRICAS revolves around that premise.
A bridge between football and life
The idea came unexpectedly. While trying to explain complex concepts to his family, he found that football examples sparked immediate attention.
“Every time I used a soccer example to explain something, my son’s eyes lit up. That’s when I understood that I had found a bridge. Soccer has the ability to connect with people of any age, culture or belief. What was initially a family conversation ended up becoming something much bigger.”
As time went by, that intuition was transformed into a work that uses familiar language to address universal questions.
“I wasn’t writing about football. I wasn’t just writing about Kabbalah either. I was writing about life. Football was simply the vehicle to get to conversations that we all, in one way or another, end up having.”
The match that occurs within each person
One of the central concepts of the work is that people usually live two parallel experiences.
“There are two matches happening at the same time: the real one and the one you build in your head.”
For Meiler, much of human suffering arises precisely from this difference between circumstances and the perception we have of them.
“The facts are one thing. The interpretation we make of those facts is completely different. Many times we suffer more from the story we tell ourselves than from what really happened.”
That observation led him to delve deeper into the way people process the events of their lives.
“Most of the time we don’t suffer from the event. We suffer from the story we put on top of it. That’s where the work of consciousness begins. When you manage to separate one thing from the other, new possibilities appear.”
The rules that no one teaches
In the author’s opinion, much of human frustration comes from trying to play a game without really understanding how it works.
“Most people play the game of life without knowing the rules. They know they are playing, they feel the pressure of the scoreboard, they celebrate when things go right and get frustrated when they go wrong, but they rarely stop to understand how the game really works.”
As he explains, people tend to focus on controlling what is beyond their capabilities while neglecting what does depend on them.
“We want to control the outcome, the circumstances and the behavior of others. But the real work is learning to manage our response. That’s where freedom comes in.”
Of ‘why?’ to ‘what for?’
During the interview, Meiler insists on an idea that he considers transformative: changing the question with which difficulties are faced.
“When something hurts us we usually ask: ‘Why did this happen to me?’. Kabbalah proposes a different question: ‘Why did this happen to me?’. That small change completely changes the experience.”
Furthermore, he states that difficult circumstances should not be understood only as obstacles.
“Situations don’t happen to you. They happen for you. That doesn’t mean everything is pleasant or easy. It means that every experience contains an opportunity for growth, learning or transformation.”
From their perspective, the challenge is figuring out what that opportunity is.
“Life constantly presents us with situations to reveal something we have not yet seen about ourselves. When we understand that, we stop feeling like permanent victims of circumstances.”
pain and suffering
One of the deepest themes of the text is the difference between two concepts that are often confused.
“Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional,” he points out.
Meiler explains that people can’t always avoid losses, disappointments, or difficult times, but they can develop a different relationship with those experiences.
“Suffering appears when we add resistance, judgment or a narrative that prolongs the pain beyond what is necessary. That is where the inner work begins.”
The writer considers that many people live trapped in stories that they built years ago and that continue to condition their present.
“We continue to react to current situations from old wounds. And as long as we are not aware of that, we continue to play the same game over and over again.”
The true meaning of free will
The conversation also addresses one of the most debated premises within philosophy and spirituality.
“Many people believe that free will means controlling everything that happens. Life constantly shows that that is not possible.”
In his vision, true freedom is found elsewhere.
“Destiny is not what happens to you. Destiny is what you do with what happens to you.”
This ability to choose the response to circumstances constitutes, as he explains, one of the greatest resources of the human being.
“We don’t always choose the cards we receive. But we can choose how to play them.”
Learn to live with uncertainty
In a time marked by accelerated change, uncertainty has become one of the main sources of anxiety.
However, Meiler considers that trying to eliminate it is a lost battle from the beginning.
“Balance is not about eliminating uncertainty. It is about learning to maintain balance while the game is still in play.”
The comparison with football once again serves as an example.
“No player enters a court knowing exactly what is going to happen. If he knew each play in advance, the game would lose meaning. Uncertainty is not an error in the system; it is an essential part of the game.”
Life as unknown territory
Far from presenting definitive answers, the interviewee maintains that much of human anxiety arises from a simple reality: no one has ever experienced the moment they are going through before.
“We are ignorant in our present because we have never experienced it before. We pretend to be absolutely certain about something we are experiencing for the first time. When we understand that, we learn to relate to uncertainty in a different way.”
That understanding requires an inevitable dose of trust.
“Life is an act of faith. Every day we make decisions without fully knowing the outcome. We do it when we start a relationship, when we undertake a project or when we simply take the next step. Living means accepting that we will not always see the entire field before moving.”
Life always whistles in your favor
Among the most striking phrases in the work is one that usually arouses curiosity.
“Life always whistles in your favor.”
Far from suggesting that everything happens according to individual desires, Meiler maintains that each experience can become an opportunity to advance.
“Sometimes we don’t understand the play in the moment. Sometimes we even believe that life is playing against us. But when we look at the whole journey, we discover that many of the situations that seemed like obstacles ended up propelling us towards something better.”
Beyond the World Cup
With the 2026 FIFA World Cup approaching and Miami as one of the host cities, the promoter of this proposal believes that soccer offers a unique opportunity to open conversations that transcend the sports field.
“With the World Cup approaching, the language of football is probably the most democratic in the world. Millions of people understand it. That is the bridge.”
Although The Conscious Game received an Honorable Mention at the International Hispanic Book Awards 2025 in the category of Best Self-Transformation Book, Meiler insists that his greatest interest is not editorial recognition.
“I don’t want people to just feel good after reading the book. I want them to be more aware. If a person finishes reading it looking at their life from a different perspective, then the purpose has been served.”
By summarizing the central message of the work in a single sentence, you don’t need to think about it too much.
“Learn the rules of the game before time runs out.”
Beyond victories, defeats and scores, that seems to be Nero Meiler’s invitation: to understand that the most important game is not played on a field, but in the way in which each person decides to live their own story.
