| Part 3 | Creating Identity Outside of Sport I clearly can go on and on about this part of your life, but I’ll stop typing after this last note: You’ll be known as “the softball player” for a while. You’ll even be known for your achievements or for what your team did for years to come- so it’ll be hard to find YOU since people are constantly putting you in a box that THEY can understand. This part of life is about you getting a say in how you’re defined. There are no lines to color in between. Be creative. Be different. Do what you want because you’re going to have to feel out a lot of different things before you digest that there’s no coach assigning you poles when you show up late for workout. You’ve been in a relationship with softball for years and it’s a hard and lonely breakup. But I’ll tell you what- getting to know yourself all over again makes up for the emptiness you’ll feel in the beginning. The work is worth it. When you feel the freak out coming- take a breath and ...