Unsolicited Advice to Athletes Who Are Told They Are Not Good Enough
When the water in your bottle runs out
Fill it back up
Just because you have been told that you are too short
To play the game that you love
You will not cry
Those who use you as the arm rest
Or the punching bag
Will get what they deserve in the end
But you are a nice person
You don’t want anyone to suffer
The control is not yours
So let it go
Do not wish upon the negatives
Only the positives
You were told this your whole life
And it still holds true
So when the water in your bottle runs out
Fill it back up
The air will contain the stress and anxiety
But you will stay calm and ready
When your body returns home
With bruises
And cuts
The tears will not fall
Because your soul is content
And tells you
You were born to do this
Since the beginning you were nothing but a thought
A thought in the mind that knew that you were to be strong
So when the water in your bottle runs out
Fill it back up
When the running and the jumping begin to burn already aching muscles
Your body will keep going
Because it knows that it can
Since you were young
The sound of the gym was your place
Tennis shoes squeaking against hardwood floors
And the basketball pounds into the floor
The volleyball hits repeatedly sweating arms
With a satisfying thud
Because you have been told that you are too short
You will not cry
You will do what you are born to do
You will play what you are born to play
Do not listen to the boys that laugh at you
They do not understand the pressure that parents put on your chest
The weight of their mistakes bare down on you
They are afraid you will follow in their footsteps
But you know you won’t
Because when the water ran out of your bottle
You filled it back up