There were so many lessons to be learned
In August of 2020, I decided to retire. No, not from a career but from competitive sports. For the first few chapters of my life, sports were a central storyline. My time as an athlete had its ups and downs, and I am still adjusting to life without the constant training, practices and camaraderie. If I am being completely honest, sports put me through the wringer, but as I reflect on my time as an athlete, there are some lessons I don’t think will ever leave me.
lesson #1: Never settle for less than your best
I started competitive swimming a little bit late and started competitive skiing even later. There were gaps I had to make up for, and being the perfectionist I once was (and in some ways still am). I was not going to stop until I was satisfied. One of the biggest things I learned playing time-based sports was that in some ways I will never be satisfied. I would set goals and train until I met them, and then I would start all over again. I was always training for something. Although there was really no need to see myself as behind, viewing my progress this way forced me to be disciplined in practice and committed in my work ethic to the point that is now ingrained in me. I learned how to work hard and bet on myself in sports, even if I am the only one to do so.
lesson #2: teamwork makes the dreamwork
People would often ask the question of how an individual sport like swimming or skiing can also be a team sport. The answer: You can’t do it alone! It is your teammates who make the highs higher and alleviate the lows. Even if it is just you on the block or at the starting gate, it’s you and your teammates day in and day out. They are the ones that motivate you in practice when you can’t motivate yourself. They are the ones you share bus rides and carpools with. When I started to black out in the water, it was my teammates who pushed me out of the pool, and when I got my concussion, it was my teammates who cheered me through my recovery. I am now noticing how much I truly miss that camaraderie, but also how much it has made me into, well, a better team player in nearly everything else I do.
lesson #3: success looks different than you think
For the first few years I swam, my whole life centered around being in the water. With the pool consuming every extra minute I had, there was little time to do much else. I think in many ways, sports incentivize results, and in my head, that is how I defined success. No matter what I did, I focused on the end product, so needless to say, I ended up paying the price by neglecting my self care. The thing is, sports don’t have to be that way. I didn’t want to redefine my relationship with swimming until I was left without a choice, but I learned in the coming years that slowing down was the best decision I could have made. I was able to prioritize my mental health and set more consistent boundaries, pursue other passions and learn to love the sport again. Where I thought I would be at age 18 was very far from where I was when I finally hung up the cap. But I was a happier and healthier person than I had ever been, and I think that there is power in viewing success in that way.
Lesson #4: balance is key
In all honesty, I didn’t learn what balance really looked like until the end of high school, just in time for COVID to swing through and mix everything up again. This might be the lesson that I am still struggling the most with in college. Before, I tried to balance school with sports and extracurriculars everyday. Now, I am just exhausted even thinking about that routine. I’m not entirely sure how I did it all those years, but losing that consistent routine has also thrown me out of whack and forced me to adapt. At the same time, with almost every part of my life in my own hands now, I am finding out more and more how grateful I am that I learned early on how to time manage and prioritize. I am getting better at putting my energy where it needs to be and listening to what my body needs physically, emotionally and spiritually. In that regard, I do have sports to thank.
lesson #5: it will always be a part of me
It has been over a year since I hung up the goggles and put the skis on the shelf, yet whenever someone asks, I will still tell them I was a swimmer and a skier. Neither is a prominent force in my life right now, but they will always be a part of my story. Our culture surrounding sports in the United States is a lot to take in and is often unhealthy. There are also significant inequities, disparities, and dysmorphia within sports that are serious issues. These are things that affect youth and young adults whether they play a sport or not, and are hard to escape.
However, in that light, even with everything I wish I could change about athletics, I do think there are valuable lessons that can be learned from sports, and no two stories are the same. It is things like these lessons that continue to shape me even as I move farther away from that context, and for that, I am truly grateful.