Life Lessons From Soccer

Okay…so I’m sorry…I know Friday entries always revolve around soccer…but I seriously look forward to it SO much and have SO much fun playing!  But yeah…it’s crazy how not-in-shape I am already!  We had played for like an hour and a half or so…and I was already feeling really tired.  We decided it was the last game…and they talked about playing to  7, so I was like, okay, I can do that.  As we neared the 7th point, I played so hard because I knew we were coming to the end.  Well…I don’t know if I heard wrong or if they changed their minds (so much is not spoken in English so I miss a lot that people don’t realize I’m missing…haha = ), but we played to 8, and then 9, and then 10.  I could hear Manuel in my head saying, “Ignore your body.  Our bodies want to sit and watch TV.  If we listened to our bodies at the first sign of discomfort, we’d never accomplish great things.”  So I kept going to 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17.  And I just could not play any longer.  I don’t know how the guys did it.  They played until like 25...and they seemed just fine - talk about endurance!  But yeah…it made me realize I really need to start strengthening my legs and my heart again because I do NOT want to have to wuss out again = /  I think being the only girl playing, I feel like I have to play even harder and faster and better (you thought I was gonna say stronger, huh? = ), so I hated having to sit out.  But yeah…I was just thinking about what a great analogy it is for life.  There are times when we feel like we just can’t go on with this or that…but if we just keep on going and push ourselves to be better, we can do so much more than we thought possible.

Some interesting facts about playing soccer/football here.  The pitch is like artificial grass (there’s NO grass here) and this tiny gravel stuff…so I have a mean strawberry across my whole right thigh (yes…I fell…haha…but in my defense they play REALLY rough…and it was a foul.  They don’t grow up playing AYSO with strict rules…they grow up playing “street ball” and watching professional soccer…so they play super physical - grabbing and pushing).  And some of them don’t play with shoes on…so even though I have the normal lumps and bumps on my shins from those who do have shoes, I also had a lovely gash in my calf from a toenail = /  And they kick SO hard…the balls that hit me (when they’re a shot) always leave a print of the ball and a bruise - and this is the queen of not-bruising we’re talking about, so that’s saying a lot…haha = )  It’s crazy, too…when I play it feels like my feet are on fire.  I guess the ground is so hot, and it seeps into your shoes…it’s hard to describe but it’s a weird feeling.