What I Don't Know.

It has been a strange time for me. Then again, it has been a strange time for all of us. I've now been in Australia for a little over a month and have yet to participate in a practice, have yet to play or watch a game. However, there have been a few things I have seen.

During this time off, the team I have been contracted to play for has been given a fitness and ball workout program to complete. What I took note of immediately was the amount of rest time in between the sets. I laughed and wondered why so much time was given. When I went to my mentor and asked them what they thought about the program, they told me, "Australia is one of the foremost countries in the world in sports science. Beyond even America." They questioned why I thought I knew what was best. A few days after that, I realized that they were right. What I soon found out was that running with a ball proved to be more taxing than simply running without one. In addition, running on wet grass proved to be even more of a challenge for me. Unknown to me at the time, I later learned that the program could be made more challenging by increasing the number of reps or sets. I wasn't aware of any of this. Yet, I thought I knew best.

What I continue to struggle with is a need to prove myself. The last few years, I catch myself feeling as if I am approaching life with a closed fist rather than an open hand. It is a continuous battle to try and change that mindset. I've been lucky to have people in my life help catch me when that happens. The example I gave above is something small, but if I were not open to what our sports analyst had for us, then it could have deprived me of an opportunity to learn from someone who knows far more than I do when it comes to programming.

The more I try to learn, the more I realize what I don't know. This is true. Yet, at the same time, the more I think I learn, the more I feel I have something to bring to the table. In the last few years, I learned the former, but I think it was only just now that I have learned the latter. I have a strong drive and desire to impact the game. How I plan on doing that, I am still unsure. I heard on a recent podcast how important it is to play the long game. Instead of saying, "I will accomplish this big goal tomorrow, become CEO of this company in one year," try putting it off for forty years. I, like others, put a great deal of pressure on myself when I try and create an arbitrary timeline in my mind for when I want to accomplish something of importance or significance. This is where my youth and inexperience fails me as I try and rush to catch up to everyone else, including my mentor. If there's one thing I'm learning during this time where the world is at a standstill, it's how to pause and trust that I am exactly where I need to be while learning the lessons that I am ready, and open, to learning.