Diary of a Striker with Bethany Balcer: The Present Moment

Diary of a Striker is a Girls Soccer Network exclusive series from Bethany Balcer of OL Reign. Balcer will be giving readers an inside look at her journey as a professional player all season long. New posts drop every two weeks!

It’s easy to get caught up in always wanting the next best thing. Whether that’s a job, a relationship, an experience, etc., we tend to want to move on to something more exciting. Sometimes we start or end things in hopes that there is something more, forgetting what the present moment has to offer us.

We strive to have the best job possible, and we don’t want to waste our time on anything less. We want to have a picture-perfect relationship, so we don’t have the patience to work through things. We compare our life to someone else’s and change our own course because where we’re headed doesn’t seem good enough. Whatever it may be, sometimes our mind lies to us and makes us forget the beauty of what’s happening now in our lives.

There is so much value in experience. If you have a job you don’t like, that’s okay, it can be a learning opportunity if you let it. You don’t like the position you play or the playing time you’re getting? That’s okay, you don’t have to quit, you can learn incredible things if you have the right attitude. I think our society tells us that if it isn’t perfect or doesn’t make us happy to move on because we’re being held back. However, I truly believe everything has purpose. Whatever situation you are in, there is value in that and something to be taken from it. Our inclination tends to be to quit when the going gets tough, but I think the tough is what makes us. If we continuously run from opportunities we’ll never get out of them what was intended. Our focus has to be that we can grow from seemingly mundane tasks.

It is my hope that as we go through life we will choose to make the most of every opportunity. Perspective is everything and you can choose to think that what you’re doing is not important, but it can be if you want it to be. Now, that doesn’t mean you are stuck in that position. All I’m saying is we shouldn’t be looking towards the next thing in life all the time. Maybe you do have a crappy job, but maybe you have to learn things about that job so when you get promoted you can be a better boss because you know what that job was like. Maybe you are sitting on the bench so that when you do become a starter you can be a better teammate. Maybe your friend’s life isn’t as perfect as they are portraying it and you are not behind them in any way. These are all situations we can find ourselves in, but notice how simply changing your perspective can open you up to a completely new situation.

There is value in what you are facing right now. Find the growth where you can and be challenged by doing your best in whatever you are doing!

Featured image via @olreign on Instagram

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