As athletes, we are taught that hard work is the key to success. We are taught to pushthrough the pain, show up even when we are tired, and give everything we have to our sport. We learn that dedication means sacrifice, discipline means never giving up, and success comes to those who work the hardest. While these lessons can make us stronger athletes, they can also make us forget something important, that we are people before we are athletes. It's easy to believe that resting means we are falling behind or that taking a break means we are not working hard enough. We become so focused on proving ourselves, that we forget we do not have to prove our worth in the first place.

Being an athlete can become more than just something we do. It can become who we are. Our schedules revolve around practices and games. Our goals become centered on improving, winning, and becoming the best version of ourselves in our sport. We learn to measure our progress through playing time. Without even realizing it, we start connecting our value as people to how well we perform as athletes. We begin to believe that we are only doing enough when we are doing more.

This mindset can make it difficult to recognize when we need a break. Even when our bodies are exhausted, our minds tell us to keep going. Even when we feel overwhelmed, we convince ourselves that everyone else is handling it better. We watch our teammates work harder, see other athletes improving, and feel the pressure to keep up. We become afraid that if we slow down, someone will take our place, our progress will disappear, or we will lose the opportunities we have worked so hard to earn. Rest begins to feel like something we must justify instead of something we deserve.

One of the most important lessons an athlete can learn is that rest is not the opposite of hard work. Before I transferred, one of the best athletes on my team actually took off days. Of course she also put in countless extra hours into her game, but she knew her body also needed rest. Rest is part of growth. We cannot expect ourselves to constantly give our best when we never allow ourselves the opportunity to recover. 

The most difficult part of this is understanding that our worth does not disappear when our performance changes. An injury does not make us less valuable. A bad game does not make us a failure. Sitting on the bench does not erase the work we have put in. Sports teach us discipline and resilience, but they should never teach us that we must constantly suffer in order to achieve something good. We do not have to reach a breaking point to deserve a break. We do not have to prove our value through constant achievement. And we do not have to sacrifice our well-being to show how much we love our sport.