Sabbatical…my hand has been forced…

Sabbatical…my hand has been forced…

I had this conversation with HIM in my DREAM…

HIM: Really, are we gonna keep going through this?

ME: Yes, cause I don’t understand.

HIM: Akiba, why are you so stubborn?

ME: Are YOU asking ME this…YOU made me in YOUR image, right?

HIM: Indeed I did, but there are times to be stubborn and time to have faith. Your unique gift of strong intuition, clairvoyance and strong subconscious serves a purpose, You hear it but you don’t listen nor trust it…

ME: So all these little hints and hiccups in life…I don’t do well with hints and signs, why not just be blunt and say STOP?

HIM: Um HELLOOO broken Leg and ankle…Parasites… torn sholder, knee, abs…I even tore your hammy in 2 places last year…and blessed you with sicklemia

ME: ohhhhhhhhhhh… got it, though I don’t believe sicklemia is a blessing but hey!

Then I woke up, thanks to the birds fighting right outside my window, I tried to fall back asleep to finish the dream…but in this dream creatures were chasing me! Thank you “True Blood.”

I’m the stubborn kind; tell me to take it easy, when it comes to my sport, I don’t know how! So when God, nature, the universe and my body conspire against my heart AND my mind…It’s not a fair alliance and I lose (I hate losing, even against them)! Though usually I go out swinging, this time I chose to be obedient and sit my ass down!

Yes in early June, I sprained my ankle and reaggrivate a stress reaction, competed in New York nearly 2 weeks later, re injured them both! Was thinking about USA Champs…made a big girl decision not to compete, just rest and heal up for Europe. Then I had that dream…and made the choice to take a SABBATICAL. I’ve battled through injuries these past 6 years, I’ve had some great accomplishments, I’ve come to understand my fight with and how to “care for” SICKLEMIA, but what happens when all you need is REST? Two things will happen: you will: REST BY CHOICE or REST BY FORCE!

You go HARD 11 month out of the year, injury…rehab…injury..rehab…injury…rehab…When do you HEAL? You don’t your just maintaining, you get burned out, you begin questioning, everything and become stressed and unhappy…what do you do? SABBATICAL!!! Because you begin to loose the love and appreciation for your sport, sometimes you need a break, to rejuvenate, to rekindle the flame, to love, to refocus, to find that passion again...to HEAL, if not retirement comes early or you begin to compete for the wrong reasons!

I consulted one person when thinking about this decision, and another MAJOR decision that I recently had to make…Why Loree? I’ve known her over 4 yrs (we met at a speaking engagement), as an athlete she’s been there done that, and going through it. I respect her fight, her passion, her positive outlook, her understanding, her intelligence, her ability to get me to look at things from a different perspective and her just being THERE! So Thank You Loree for helping me realized how simple these decisions were! You’re Awesome!!!

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