Playing softball isn't just a game to most people. It's a job. It's a passion. It's something like no other. For most girls, softball is their first love. There's early mornings and late nights. You stay in hotel rooms every weekend. I remember traveling to practices every Sunday and they were always two hours away. We practiced in rain or shine, and inside and outside. I would go to hitting lessons one night out of the week, which required another one hour drive. When I used to pitch I would go to lessons every week. Travel ball required me to give up my weekends. Then after travel ball we quickly transitioned to high school softball. If you were anything like me you had no off season. You played during the winter, spring, summer, and fall. Everything you did revolved around softball and for awhile it didn't bother me.

I had the chance to play softball in college. I even signed the letter of intent to play. I was excited for a long time. Then it hit me, that I didn't want to play anymore. There was more to life than just softball. I needed to find out what more I had to offer to the world. I decided to quit my softball career.

I've realized that by doing this, I have probably created more opportunities for myself. My whole college career would be consumed by softball. I would have no chance to discover that I really do love learning. I might not have been able to still be a big part of my Youth Group. No longer are my weekends filled with softball tournaments. It's been nice to spend this time with my friends again. This was a choice I had to make for myself, and no one else could make it for me. I do miss softball a lot, and I hope that one day I could use my knowledge of softball to become a coach.

I'm not going to say goodbye to the friendships I've made while playing softball though. The friends I have made along this softball journey have come to be some of my best friends. I know I can always count on them for anything. The coaches I've had in softball have turned into friends as well, no matter how much they yelled at me. I remember one of the coaches telling us that if we were on the side of the road with a flat tire, we could always call him and he would be right there, no matter how far we were. This was something that always stuck in my heart. Softball wasn't just a game to me. It was friendships, fun, and it taught me a lot of life lessons.

I'm not trying to convince people to give up their sport. I'm writing this to inform people that if something doesn't make you as happy as it used to, it's okay to let it go. Everything that we do in life teaches us a lesson.

I'm saying goodbye to softball, but thanking it for so many opportunities it gave me. I'm thanking softball for all of the lessons it has taught me.

Goodbye for now.