Resilience Is Key to Finding Your Purpose

By Emma Sage | IG: emma_sage12

I have been involved in sports for as long as I can remember. I have also struggled with my mental health for years now. I have struggled with anxiety, depression, and OCD. Playing sports while dealing with these struggles has shaped who I am as a person and player today. I have been through a wide variety of experiences and issues regarding mental health as I’ve also been involved in sports.

I often struggled and sometimes still do to feel as though I am good enough in many aspects of my life, especially in sports. Due to this I tend to overextend myself to too many commitments and people to try to prove myself worthy. I would be constantly overwhelmed and drained which negatively impacted my performance and love for lacrosse. I also struggled with multiple injuries in my high school sports that impacted this as well. To work through my struggles, I focused on finding a strong support system and prioritizing trying to be the best version of myself both physically and mentally. 

Along with those experiences, I was trying to find my personal identity during this time as well. I worked within myself to accept myself as I am, and then I opened up to my support system. Doing this helped me become even further comfortable with my identities. Through using mental health resources around me and the support system I have, I am now much farther in my recovery process. I have found a way to balance my wide variety of priorities while also bettering myself. I am now playing lacrosse in college and have found a new home and support system within that. 

This has all made me a much more well rounded player and teammate. I know I am resilient and can always keep pushing myself on and off the field. I also encourage and provide a role model for my teammates. I am always there to listen to them and help them through their own struggles. Through this I have found my passion for advocacy and am currently working on making that my career. I want to help others going through similar experiences I have gone through in the past. I want to amplify other peoples' voices regarding athlete mental health because it is extremely important to me. For anyone out there struggling, just remember that you're not alone. You are always valued, loved, and important no matter what.