The good ole' days... are still good

Soccer was once a huge part of my life... HUGE. I joined a travel soccer team when I was in the sixth grade and the team was like a second family to me. We spent every Sunday and a few days during the week together... and we went from dorky middle schoolers to high school graduates and young women together. We saw each other through boyfriends, the loss of parents, being grounded- you name it, it happened... and brought us close together.

Almost twenty years have passed since we stepped on the field together- and this summer we decided to put a team together for an adult women's league. Not gonna lie- I was dreading seeing these girls because of my weight/shape. Like dreading. But today, I showed up for our first practice and saw my former teammates- who pretty much looked like fitness models- and I survived. In fact, I did more than that- I realized- They could care less about my weight or the way I look- To them, I'm still the same old Shelley.

For so long, I didn't want any part of soccer- I played so much and we used to be pretty good- and I didn't want to try at something and fail. Today I realized that was the dumbest thing ever. I was avoiding something I love. A part of me.

So yes, things may have changed- I'm old, pulled my quad am in pain, and can't dribble the ball worth a crap... but today I felt alive. I felt something that I have missed... and It was so nice to realize that I can have fun as a woman... and my only joy in life doesn't have to come from my children or from being in bed with my hubby. Kidding. Ha! But for real, while my family is my everything, it was the best feeling in the world to drive home from practice with the biggest smile on my face from doing something for myself... and not from singing the itsy bitsy spider. I can already tell, I'm going to be a better wife and mother all from stepping out of my comfort zone.

More to come... but for now... GOOOOOOOOOO BLAST!