Be Grateful

Soccer can be a cruel sport, one that offers you so much when it is present, and one that when absent can drive you crazy. Yet, the sport can teach you many life lessons regardless if it is present or not. One that it has taught me this weekend was to be grateful for everything on and off the field.

During the game this weekend one of my good friends, and senior winger Kent Ramirez, went down with an ankle injury, which was his second one this year. When he went down everything around me changed. I have seen a lot of injuries in my time, but this one was different. It was different because Kent, was a senior, and most likely played his last minutes as a Messiah soccer player. 

His injury made me think that nothing can be taken for granted. That God has allowed us the ability to play an amazing sport such as soccer. And you never know when something like an injury can happen, and take you out of the sport. That every time you step out on the pitch, you need to play like it is your last, and love the game, like it was your first.

Soccer has its evil moments, and yet it has those crazy moments there is something greater. The light, enjoyment, and free flowing it provides makes it something you have to love and not take for granted.