The other day I was thinking about my athletic trainer days in college. I really loved those days, particularly working with the football team. It was hard and grueling work with really long days but it was also really fun and rewarding. I remember having a few moments where I realized I had found something I was good at and loved. It was nice to belong to a group that had a common interest and pushed me to grow and learn new things. I thought this was supposed to look a certain way…
After a year with the football team, I started getting requests to work with the softball and tennis teams on my own. I did it because I was asked to, but I didn’t always like it because I was the only trainer with those sports. It was all on me. I found it to be lonely because I didn’t have the same team dynamic with the other trainers. I also had to setup and clean up on my own as well so it was more work. What I didn’t realize is I was being asked to branch out into these other sports because my leadership had confidence in me to work on my own. I was getting a promotion and didn’t realize it. I just saw that I was on my own and working with people I didn’t know.
I don’t remember being a trainer with either of these teams for very long because several things changed. I passed on a number of good opportunities which could’ve helped me grow more at the time. I got scared and in a sense, quit. So I look back on this experience now and wish I had a different perspective back then because I couldn’t see this opportunity for being just that because I was convinced something was being taken away from me. I also didn’t have the confidence in myself to be on my own with an entire team so I would’ve never been able to be successful in this position despite my leadership’s confidence in me.
I think about this because my perspective on the situation significantly limited the possibilities I could see for myself even with something I loved doing. I’ve thought about other times where my perspective on a situation impacted my ability to see my potential or the so called light in a situation, limiting the outcome. I also wonder how many of us do this to ourselves daily and could make a shift in our lives with a quick shift in perspective about a situation we’re in.
Can you relate at all?