When people ask you to tell a little something about yourself, it's probably the first thing you say: "I'm an athlete... I have always been an athlete... I'll never stop being an athlete." Your sport becomes all you can talk about. It's the common topic of conversation with friends and family. Without fail, your sport is always on the mind. What happens when that whole world comes to an end, though? How will you define yourself then?
Leaving something behind is never easy. It's especially difficult when it comes to something you remain so passionate about. Sometimes, we come face-to-face with life's challenges, and the inevitable continuum of time pleads with us to go down a new path. Scary, daunting and nerve-racking, this new path calls for choices. Big choices. Life is no longer just your sport. You're forced to look at the bigger picture. So many questions rattle through your head that it's hard to decipher which ones really are significant. The way to look at this life-altering experience, ultimately, has to be for personal growth. What matters most to YOU? What will make YOU the person you've long aspired to be? For some, this will leave the sport behind in the shadows.
What you do now is what truly matters. Practices and games are a thing of the past now, as painful as that may be. You have to find a new thing to practice. Maybe it's school, work or social life. Maybe you want to further your career. Looking for that great, amazing, once-in-a-lifetime job is the practice, and landing it is the medal stand. Thanks to your grueling years as an athlete, your competitive nature helps you get to this new and improved medal stand. Your dream comes true. You can now look at yourself knowing that you've made it, and you can only thank your sport for that.
If you do choose to leave a life of sports behind, in my experience, it's crucial to keep these three things in mind:
1. Once an athlete, always an athlete. You will use the skills you learned along the way throughout your entire life.
2. No one can take all you have accomplished away from you. If they try to diminish it, don't let them. Your achievements are yours alone.
3. Do what makes you happy.
No one can say the transition to a non-athlete is easy. If they do, they never really were an athlete to begin with. Leaving your sport behind is a day-by-day struggle. Just like in practice, in a game or championships...no one ever got anywhere without trials and obstacles along the way.
