Stairs: "A flight of steps leading from one level to another." Stairs; we walk up them and we walk down them. We do it with out even thinking. It is an act that is taken for granted.
Every time I got sick or after my surgeries one of my biggest enemies was the stairs. In high school most of my classes were on the second or third floor. On my first day back to school, after the surgery I walked toward the staircase and tried to go up. Kids were running and walking by me and I barley made it up one flight. I was completely exhausted after trying to just walk up one flight of stairs; it felt like I had just run a marathon; I had to go home for the rest of the day.
The school gave me a key to the elevator so it would be easier for me to get to my classes. I hated that! I hated knowing that I physically could not do something so I practiced.
I started by walking up one set of stairs; taking breaks whenever I needed them. Once I made it up with little struggles I would walk to the second floor and take the elevator to the third floor.
My body and lungs started to get stronger! As time went on I felt good enough to walk from the first floor to the third. As I took each step I knew I was going to make it. When I got to the top I felt like I had just won the Olympics; an overwhelming surge of joy rushed all throughout me. I reached my goal and conquered the stairs!!! How can something so little mean so much?
Before I reached the top floor, I failed many times. Some days I felt strong and took extra steps towards my goal, while other days I did not feel as strong and I had to take a few steps back. These few steps back allowed me to be able to take a few steps forward. You can always take a step higher but sometimes you have to take a step down so you can train and get your strength back to make it back to the top.
My season has ended here for IFK Gavle. When I came to this is team I put our goal of moving up a division at the top of my "staircase" We took a lot of positive steps toward our goal but this time we did not make it all the way up the stairs; we just missed it. I do not look at it as a failure but rather as a chance to take a new step, to train and find a way to make it to the top.
I look at every goal I have and everything I have done within my soccer career so far as a staircase. The staircase is my symbol for development. I feel like every team I have been on and every experience has been a step up. Every step I am on gets me ready for the step that awaits.
