The Locker Room
“The Locker Room”
"The mind of an athlete is a powerful weapon. My weapon
begins working each time I step
into the locker room. A special room, my room, where my
pregame rituals always remain
the same. It is in this room where I first take seat
on the bench, when I mentally begin
preparing myself for the game. I begin with a thought
process which tells me there are two
kinds of athletes in this world: Athletes who set goals
and meet them. And athletes who set
goals but never act on them. Myself, I am an athlete,
born and raised. I act on the goals I
set for myself! As I begin to undress the layers of
life which matters no more, I remind myself
how lucky I really am. How lucky I am to have my health.
How lucky I am to have been
given these abilities to play this game that I love
so much. But most of all, how lucky I am to
dress myself with pride in this uniform once again.
As I lace up my shoes and look around
the room, I pray that my teammates have similar thoughts.
I pray that they understand the
significance of this room. That this is our meeting place.
The place where we have shared
so many good times, but also helped one another get through the bad.
The place where we have come together again to prepare
ourselves for another fight of our lives. I have now
fine-tuned my weapon, and I am ready to make my goals
become reality. I am ready to go out there and play
this game as if it were the last game I were ever able to play. I reflect
upon one final thought: How thankful I am for the
opportunity to once again enter and leave
"The Locker Room."