Talk About It Tuesday—HOPE
There is a trend that I am noticing on social media that has caught my attention as it tugs at the emotional heart strings of even the grittiest of athletes. A senior in high school posts a photo of themselves as a younger kid playing their sport–then cuts to the present where they know that this is the final season that they are playing their sport––they caption it “Sorry to let you down.”
Despite the romanticizing of childhood crazy dreams, it still is an emotional social media post.
We can unpack many topics to discuss from this social media trend.
First of all, there is nothing wrong with dreaming.
KIDS NEED TO DREAM. TEENS NEED TO DREAM. ADULTS NEED TO DREAM.
YOU AS AN ATHLETE NEED TO DREAM.
Why even put yourself through working towards this crazy dream that realistically may never happen?
1. Because you never know
2. By working toward it, achieving your dream or not, you will become a better person.
Rather than focusing on how you have disappointed your younger self, I like to use one of my favorite quotes from my favorite athlete for inspiration.
“Somewhere behind the athlete you've become and the hours of practice and the coaches who have pushed you is a little girl who fell in love with the game and never looked back... play for her.”—Mia Hamm
HOPE
Hope is a word we take for granted as athletes. We tend to cast it aside and pretend that it does not apply to our athletic self. Yet, I believe, it is one of the most important of an athlete’s attributes.
Without hope, then what are you even doing anyway?
If you do not have hope that you will accomplish your dreams then you never will.
Hope is the best friend of your I WANT statements.
I want to make varsity
I want to play on the elite team
I want to play in college
All of the I WANT statements listed above rely on HOPE. Without hope, they are just empty words.
Someone once let you dream as a child. If you are still active in your athletic pursuit, you still have hope. You have to. You have to have some belief–or your actions will be empty and meaningless.
It’s OK to dream big. Even if you hope to play on the USA National Team and you train with the desire to do so—you can only improve. If you never wear the national crest on your jersey the journey was not wasted. Never underestimate the value and worth of the process and how it allows you to grow.
So what really happens if you are a senior in high school and there is “no next year” for your sport? Did you really disappoint your younger self? That depends. If you base your identity solely on your sport, then yes, you did disappoint your younger self.
BUT YOUR IDENTITY IS NOT JUST YOUR SPORT.
Who you are is not defined by trophies that will spend a lifetime collecting dust. You are not just a soccer player, or a basketball player, or a golfer, swimmer, volleyball, or field hockey player.
You are you.
Your athletic self is just one dimension of who you are.
Your younger self should be proud of your hard work, dedication, and commitment to bettering yourself and crafting your athletic skills. High School graduates who were athletes, have endured not just success, but dealt with less than ideal team dynamics;frustrations over losing; less than perfect coaches and teammates; upsets; tears; anger; as well as a sense of family; success; seasons of growth; as well as having so many valuable memories.
There is so much an athlete goes through during one season–let alone years of many seasons after many seasons.
So….
No…
I don’t think you need to apologize to your younger self.
I think that they are proud of you.
And if you are not a senior–you keep holding on to hope and working for what YOU WANT.
And if you accomplished your wildest dreams–enjoy–but always strive for what’s next.
I would love for someone to post their younger self, followed by a series of all they accomplished, (friendships and all) and end the post with “I know I made you proud. Thank you for believing in me.”
Stay hopeful, athletes…and be resilient.
