Took some time to step away to process this past summer and soak it all in on my time and I’m so glad I did, and am finally ready to share 🫶🏽 Going into this summer, I honestly lost my love for the game. From graduating college, coming off of the Olympics, untrue rumors and many circumstances occurring that stripped my identity, I felt like I wasn’t the same me and that ‘something was wrong’. I spent a lot of time alone, unhappy, and lost. I didn’t have anyone to turn to and I didn’t want to let my family down by giving up on softball so early on in my career. When AUX came around, I gave myself the goal to just see if I could try to have fun again and if it was possible to respark that love. I gave myself the flexibility to know that I wasn’t always going to be okay, but that I also didn’t want to quit without trying. If I was going to be done with softball, I wanted it to be on my terms and something I wanted to do because of me and no one else. I’m glad I gave it another shot.... I’m often asked “How were you able to be so successful this summer? What clicked for you?” My answer: finding my people and being unapologetically myself. I let go of what people “thought” they knew about me, what they said about me and what they classified me as. I surrounded myself with those that loved me outside of “Dejah the softball player” and I found myself smiling more. Living more. Being me...more. ❤️ I ended up placing 3rd at AUX and was proud of myself, but I knew I had more. I wanted to prove it to myself. The AU Championship series flew by and I walked away with my cup full and my heart filled with so much love, not only because I proved to myself that I could do it, but because I didn’t quit and found a new love for the game. Not the results, but rather the people. I fell in love with relationship building and pushing myself to lead in new ways. I went out of my comfort zone a lot and implemented new things into my game. The evolution and the process of growing became endless to me and that...was FUN. Being free OFF the field allowed me to be free ON it and the game changed. (Continued in comments) ⬇️