Throughout my life I have surrounded myself with a variety of communities that I have adapted to and grew to know very well. One example of a group that I chose to situate myself with for most of my life was the soccer community. This social circle consisted of not only high competition but also biased politics. Believe me, I live for competition and striving to reach my highest potential, but the team that I was playing for did not solely revolve around who the best player was on the field. There were parents convincing coaches to give their sons more playing time, some players being favored over others just because they were in the organization longer, and many more inequitable elements of competitive soccer that were unavoidable no matter what team I joined. For those reasons, I made the decision to separate myself from that particular community. I believe a critical factor in the pursuit of happiness is change in life. Even though I had been playing for over ten years, I realized that it was no longer making me happy and that I needed to move on.
That brings me to the running community I decided to join. I had always had a passion for running, competing for my school and occasionally entering official meets; so I decided to start training every day and before I knew it I became a dedicated runner. This community suited me best because instead of relying on other people for recognition in soccer, I could rely solely on myself to work and reach my full potential. I noticed that I was happier in life with this decision and it also allowed me to focus more on my school studies due to the fact that I run through Sage Hill athletics.
The main point in this story of my transition in sports is to show that change can be a very good thing. Life is too short to surround yourself in a community in which you aren't enjoying yourself. Therefore I encourage all of you to take into consideration what you are doing in life and make the decision to either keep doing it because you love it, or take a risk and try something new.
