| Personal Space | Changing the Ambiance

I want everyone to know that this post took me all summer to write. I wanted to express how I felt about my inevitable transition from being a basketball player, to coming home and returning to my new found American life, but as I sit here with tears strumming down my face...

Just kidding. Y'all should know by now I'm a spiritual gangster. But this post did take me all summer to write. Meaning I had been thinking about whether I was truly ready to put up the ball and start working toward other goals.

When we normally make life decisions for ourselves, we find comfort in the lifestyle that is dominated by our environment..

For example, If I'm around a lot of people going to grad school, I'll probably be thinking about the best major for me to go too. If I come from a family full of doctors, my next step after college is.. well you get it.

And I chose basketball. When I was coming out of college, I would tell people my next step was going overseas to hoop.

I wasn't a top pro prospect, and I was coming out of an NAIA school,  with no agent.

Not only that, you have to think about the fact 16,000 women's basketball players graduate college in the US each year. Most of us have dreams to continue playing basketball professionally, while some do not. There are only 36 draft spots allocated each year in the WNBA, so you have to think that while even players able to get a trial run in a pre season training camp, that STILL doesn't guarantee a spot on the team. There are only 12 teams in the WNBA, being shared by 12 players both new and experienced, you think about 16,000 basketball players leaving school every year, wanting to make one of the 144 spots in the league... all of these stats on paper would scare any athlete away. Like where is the potential in that? But one thing I did have instilled in me is unwavering faith about getting the things I wanted.

I knew I wanted to play overseas. And since my first job in Sao Paulo, Brazil (miss you Ari!), the experience has been so enlightening and life changing. I've had the opportunity to learn new languages, I think about all the road trips (and train trips) to some of the most private areas in Peru.

I've danced from night until 7am in the streets of Spain, and eaten the best potato soup Finland has to offer. I've been bullied by kangaroos in Australia... like the list goes on and on, and I'm so blessed to have shared these experiences with people who to this day mean so much to me. I've taught English to non native speakers, coached basketball at the university level...

With some forever friends in Sao Paulo, Brazil

Loving Australia for their beautiful beach vibes.

Celebrating the dirty 30's in Brisbane! 

Forever family in Spain

I've met so many walks of life going through the streets of Peru

At Ale's gorgeous wedding in Lima, Peru

My British MUA Clare is my girl for life! 

 And now I'm at the moment where my desires are changing. I am humble enough to accept that my next chapter will be me stepping into another dynamic for the very first time. I'm going to not know how to do things well again. I'm going to have to learn to master a new version of myself. I'm going to have to let go of things I thought to be true, and accept ideas I've previously never heard before. When I was younger I spent a lot of time learning to dribble, shoot, and do all the basic things that need to be mastered to even think about becoming a professional basketball player. Now I'm going into another chapter where I will need to spend as much time acquiring skills as I did on my right and left dribble. Ill need to strive for the accuracy levels as I did when learning to lay-up, shoot a free throw, and hit a 3. I'm going to have to say no to what used to bring me comfort, and I'm going to have to look at new truths. Blame it on Saturn Return, blame it on enlightenment, or the next step of my life's purpose, but I'm so at the point of altruistic expression, that my desire to change the world exceeds the need to entertain it. I realize I'll have to go back to learning, and creating another identity that is as true to me as all the years I've been a basketball player.

And so the summer was spent rearranging my priorities, creating new boundaries, detoxing people and situations that no longer served my highest form of expression, and really learning the fundamentals of what it's going to take to get to MY next level.

The rules are still the same: stay real, maintain yourself as the game changes, be selfish to be selfless, keep the circle tight and hold the dreams tighter. Be aware of the spiritual consequences in my actions, and remain mindful of everything seen and unseen. I know a lot of athletes come to this point of transition in their careers, and I just want you to know that giving up one identity for another isn't a loss; most people cling to one job, one identity, one story their whole lives. My transition is only one expression of the many levels of life.

Its more than okay to redefine the reality in our lives... Welcome to the life of the multi dimensional.