I'll never forget the horrific moment I tore my ACL. I was entering my first year of high school and playing in the same preseason tournament with my club team I played in for years. A girl miles taller than me jumped for a header and landed directly on my knee. It happened. It hurt. It sucked.
Did I quit, though? Absolutely not. I still haven't quit, and I don't plan on quitting anytime soon. In fact, my ACL tear and the following recovery taught me more about myself and my capabilities than I ever imagined it could. To mention only a few, here are several lessons I learned:
1. Life is hard. Being so young, I had not yet been exposed to this harsh truth. The moment I got hurt, though, I felt pain -- not only a physical pain, but an emotional pain so heavy it was unreal. What did I do? I made the decision to get over it and better myself and my game.
2. You must always fight back. I could have so easily wallowed in my sorrows, and thank God I chose not to do that. I had my surgery and I fought like hell to get back to the game that I loved. Keep in mind I was a 14-year-old girl. I was a 14-year-old girl who knew what she wanted and went after it.
3. If people laugh at you, let them. The first time I played again following my recovery was at a college ID camp. I stepped out into a game, went after a ball and face-planted. I am 100 percent positive people were at least holding giggles back under their breath. I can't blame them -- I would have probably done the same thing. Once again, I used this as motivation to come back stronger than ever.
4. Your hard work will be rewarded. The countless painful hours I spent working out in a physical therapy office paid off. I came back in great shape and with more fire in me than ever before. When my coaches saw how hard I was working, they rewarded me. I became a leader and I was proud.
5. Your situation is absolutely not as bad as you think. At the time, this injury felt like the end of the world. I was so wrong. It was only a brief pause to the world that I knew. Of course it sucked, and of course circumstances could have been better, but they weren't. Looking back, I realize that so many athletes go through much worse mishaps and injuries. I was one of the lucky ones -- I had a chance to recover.
6. You are capable of so much more than you believe. It is hard to see your own true potential. I would tell myself, "Look at that girl -- she's so talented, she could come out of this better than I can. So why did it have to happen to me?" I could slap myself for ever thinking that. I was just as talented as her! I am a firm believe that anyone can do anything -- it is only a matter of who is willing to put in the work.
If anything, my injury made me a better player and a stronger person. Look at Alex Morgan! She tore her ACL and she is one of the most widely respected female athletes in the world. It is all a matter of how you respond. When something crappy happens to you, take it and twist it into something good. You are perfectly capable.
Philippians 4:13: "I can do all things through He who strengthens me."
