Overcoming the mental battle
As an athlete, injuries are the risk you take to play the sport you love. The physical side of recovery is exhausting and physically challenging, but even more so mentally. I saw the lowest of lows when recovering from knee surgery, something no one could have prepared me for. It felt like there was no light at the end of the tunnel.
No one seems to talk about how the little victories are the most rewarding when they deal with recovery. I was so close to calling it quits multiple times, but I was a competitor and would not let a brace and crutches stop me from chasing my dreams. I sat on the sidelines as I watched my teammates succeed. But I failed to realize that I was finding success that related to my journey, not anyone else.
I was unprepared for what to do when my mind got the best of me, and the negative thoughts came pouring in at a rate that was faster than I could control.
There was no rule book on how to handle relearning how to walk when my brain said, “Just do it, it shouldn’t be that hard.” time and time again. I was unaware of how to adjust to the new player I was when I stepped back onto the field. I was ecstatic to get back to playing, only to step on the field and want to hang up the cleats for good because I had been losing the mental fight.
I was not the player I was, and I was expecting to be when I returned because I had pushed my body so hard for nine months; that I physically felt ready. I had failed to prepare my mind. My mind was still in month four or five of recovery by the time I got the green light to play. I stepped on the field and let the mind game control me, and it showed.
As athletes, our minds go 100 miles a minute, just like their bodies. We spend more time in our heads than on the playing field. There is no excuse for not being taught how to train our minds before our bodies. I am a college athlete and still am unable to keep my mental game as sharp as my physical game. It can be exhausting, challenging, and degrading at times, but as an athlete, I know that athletics has taught me more than I could ever learn, so why give up? At what cost is it too much? Athletes deserve so much more than what they have received.
We have the tools to succeed physically, but many lack the tools to succeed mentally. The mental health of athletes is a conversation that needs to happen more often than it does. Many of us grew up playing sports for one thing, the love of the game.
The love of the game should not have to fade as we start to play at a higher competition.
The game will bring out the greatest; and sometimes the worst in each athlete. Remember when the worst comes because it will, that it does not last forever, and you are more than your sport.
To every athlete, no matter how long the days feel, how lonely the nights get, and how tired you become from the feeling of fighting an uphill battle, you are not alone, and you are loved.