Being on the field, running around, scoring goals and winning the game with my friends was something I always enjoyed doing. It was something I would always look forward to on the weekends, and even if we did lose, it never brought us down because we knew we tried our hardest. It was always the highlight of my week. That was until it started to feel like a burden. having to keep up with all the constant practicing and games.
I began playing soccer when I was around six years old and for awhile I never once regretted having my parents put me into the sport. It brought me tons of joy until I had to start balancing both soccer and then school. In the beginning it wasn’t too bad having to balance both of these things, but after a while it had started to leave me feeling drained. I felt like I never had time to enjoy anything else because all I had time to do was attend practices, games and now school.
Participating in soccer became even worse the second my position on the field had changed from defense to offense. I felt confused despite all the constant practicing I was doing because it just didn’t feel the right position for me which led me to not being as fond of the sport as much as I had compared to when I first started. Soccer started to feel like a chore that I had no choice but to do plus the constant homework I had to do just started to become a burden on me. This all led me to the decision to quit soccer altogether. It was very difficult for me to come to terms with not playing the sport I had so deeply loved to play, especially with having so many people tell me that I was pretty good however I didn’t feel I could agree with what they were saying.
Though I knew it was the best decision for me and honestly had become a relief to quit at times I felt stuck I was no longer of a team and I felt I didn’t have anything that I could look forward to. Thankfully not having anything to do in my free time allowed me to explore so many different forms of hobbies and ways I could allow my mind to be creative. I started exploring dance and gymnastics, which unfortunately didn’t last long as I wasn’t good enough to make it something serious, but it was fun allowing myself to try something new. I also picked up more on reading and found out how enjoyable it could be especially when I realized how many different genres I could explore and how interesting little words on a paper could be. Soon after I even started picking up more on arts and crafts and started creating pieces that fully expressed how I felt, which allowed me to feel better about myself.
Deciding to not continue soccer even though it felt like the light of my life was the best decision I could have made. It allowed me to focus on other things and gave me more time to enjoy so many other things out there that are easily as enjoyable. Though I do at times still go out to practice soccer because of how much I tend to miss it, playing for fun instead of being committed to it has felt a lot better on me.
