Tag: athlete

balance

March 17th, 2023

Be who you are, not what you’re sold
Achieve your dreams, break the mold
Listen within, be your own gold
Actualize your visions, young and old
Names and labels are controlled
Character and authenticity will always hold
Even the invisible moments are yours to be told

Breathe without any fear
Access a new internal gear
Laugh when you’d rather shed a tear
Assurance is always there to hear
Not a worry when you forget how to steer
Call the heart no matter how severe
Each day creates your chosen year

Bettering thyself is the only thing true
Action inside lets it all brew
Love always stays, yet it still flew
Acceptance is easy when you know it’s the glue
Natural highs bid “tougher” days adieu
Caged fires are fires we always knew
Ease into the sprint, be your own breakthrough

-Grace
this dreamy descent

February 21st, 2023

We talk about lifelong memories
The way they shape our inner documentaries
We talk about seizing a moment, a specific time
The way it’ll harmonize like our favorite chime

There’s a climb and a descent
A climb to the day we always dreamt
A descent back to normal when it’s over
The way a love can become your closure

We dream of a specifically distinct vision
It becomes the something that makes us driven
The day comes when that vision is your reality
Smacks you in the face, this waking fantasy

You think about all that could go wrong
The fears flutter like a disjointed song
But something kicks in and wakes you up
Reminded of who you are, it fills your cup

Then you live everything going so right
As if perfection truly is in sight
You pull through a hard obstacle
Like a puzzle you didn’t know was solvable

When you’re just about done
You’re taken back to when it all begun
The win seems like it’s floating away
But it’s still right there if you stay

There will be moments it doesn’t feel like a dream
Moments you wonder why you chose this theme
There will be times you’d rather crash than fly
Times you wonder why you want the high

But that something comes whooshing back
Pushes the fear to the side with a whack
Reminds you to look around, to remember who you are
To feel the fire deep inside your shooting star

So you look at everyone in your crew
You look within, remembering you grew
You take a deep breath, gather your force
And that’s why the dream is your source

-Grace
athlete mentality

January 17th, 2023

Shoes on the court
Trickles of sweat
Taped thumbs and ankles
Racquet in my calloused hand
The stickiness of a new grip
The sound of fresh strings on the ball
The connection to the concrete

Bounce the ball like that’s all there is
Play with the chain on my neck
Start the swing I’ve swung a billion times
Watch my mind go into automatic

Play the point
Reset the moment
Memory gets deactivated
Stillness gets ignited
Chase another ball
Step up to the line
Repeat it all a million more times

Competition is so hard to explain
But it pulls something out of you
I sense her across the net
I watch her play little games
My alarm goes off
I find the tiger within
I break the chain
Let her out
Forget sensing her across the net
Sense the moment instead

There’s always a choice
A choice to raise and pull ahead
Or a choice to let it get to you
Mind gets a little talkative
Feet start to bounce a little more
Score becomes heavier
The dopamine rush knocks at the door

I hear all the voices that have ever built me up
I see all the times I fought for my grit
I feel the fire inside, the one I learned to light
And that’s when I know, I’ll walk off the court with the balls

-Grace

Author’s Note – Walking off court with the balls means you won in tennis :-). I usually like to keep my two worlds separate…being an athlete (tennis) and being a writer. But I just came off a big tournament win and I thought I’d let my worlds collide :-). Competition has been a journey for me, but in so many moments this weekend I realized it’s a journey I will look back on with a smile inside and out. To show up for myself in the heat of the moment is the true victory, beyond the trophy.

High level tennis is hard to make relatable, it’s much more than what is portrayed in the public eye…it’s an intensity like no other and requires the highest level of mental toughness. I could write a million pieces on tennis and competing, and that wouldn’t be nearly enough to describe every aspect of it all. But for this piece, just remember “that choice” is a choice we make not just in competition but in everyday life.
passion

August 25th, 2021

Our journey has felt anything but short
Deeply meant to be, nothing to abort
The true feeling when we step on court
Is so much more than the sport

Forgetting the outside
Tennis is our pride
Alive with passion, fear has died
Here we are, enjoying the ride

Strings brush the ball
True power through it all
Growing in every phase
Alert with every raise

Hard work has never felt so uplifting
Although our dreams are shifting
Love of the game will never fade
No matter how many points are played

Ace + Geo (my little bro)

So fun to collaborate with my little brother again! We are both competitive tennis players and train together daily. A friend challenged us to write about tennis, and this piece was born! It was crazy to summarize twelve years of playing a sport in a few lines, but if there’s anyone who could do it with me, it’s my bro! Being an athlete has blessed me in so many ways; one of those ways is in becoming fearless and free, another is in strengthening my relationship with my brother. Go check out his site if you haven’t already, he’s full of joy vibes! Thank you for reading, we hope this helps you on your journey! Be fearless and free -Ace

My debut book, The Waking Dream, is out now! To purchase, click here for more info!
The Zone

May 16th, 2021
What does the zone feel like to you?

We all know “the zone”. For some, it can be a rush, a flow or a wave, but to me, it’s a zone. It’s this feeling or maybe even place where there’s such an effortless excitement to everything. It’s electric, it’s addicting, it’s adrenalizing — it’s just free. I know the zone is that one thing I’ll never be able to perfectly describe because it’s so special and something so pure words just don’t do it justice.

You know when you get this tingling feeling within, the one that feels like literal magic where everything you touch comes to life? Or do you know when you just feel such a zest for life, such an overwhelming sense of gratitude for the journey? It might even be a thoughtless (society makes thoughtless seem like a bad thing, but in reality, it’s the ultimate space to be in) realm, a place where thoughts no longer exist and peace is all that surrounds. Maybe it feels like a giant hug, a forever high, a different reality, a dream, a place without duality, a place that’s actually perfect — maybe it’s the place or time where you are truly YOU. If you’re reading this paragraph, and something is lighting up within you, then you and the zone know each other well.

Not one of us has the same zone, but, we all have a zone. Maybe you haven’t tapped into yet, or fully experienced it or maybe you haven’t felt it fully – that’s ok. You are at the perfect place in your journey; whether you’re at a crossroads, a stop sign or a green light, everything is meant to be and YOU are on the “right” track. The zone is something sacred and special, and the Universe (you) will bless you with that rush when the time is right, when you are ready.

I remember the first time I really felt the zone. It was in a tennis match and it was something totally indescribable. This something just came over me; I was connected to the ball, clear in my mind and deeply alive inside. I won the match and got off court and my team was like, “How did you do that? What happened?” And I remember just smiling and laughing and feeling like I didn’t know how I did it. Looking back, it was probably the first time in my life I was truly fearless. And that little blink of being fearless blessed me with my first experience in the zone.

How often are you in the zone?

The zone seems like something that just comes to us, but, in reality, we completely choose it with our thoughts, beliefs and emotions. This took me many many many life lessons to learn, but, recently I truly tapped into it. The first step to anything is awareness. Once I became aware of how I got in the zone, my emotions during my time in the zone and how I lost the zone — I started to recognize my place in the zone. And that’s when I realized, I AM the zone.

I feel very fortunate now to be experiencing the zone every single day of my life. Whether it’s through writing, training on the tennis court, training in the gym, song-writing, listening to music, connecting with my lovely friends here, good conversations, creating anything, cooking, dreaming or taking care of my relationships — I live in the zone every single day. This is where my gratitude through all the lessons I’ve learned through tennis just oozes out of me, I know without tennis this zone would be foreign to me. So, thank you tennis, for being my vessel to freedom, to fearlessness, to happiness and to the zone my life is designed through.

So, this is your reminder to dive into those times you were so alive in your zone!
- How does your zone feel? Everyone’s zone is different, and it’s the best journey in the world to discover the magic within it!! But for me personally, the zone is such a scared and surreal place to me that it’s beyond any reality let alone words or adjectives. It’s just something I will always know in my soul. And I don’t need words to bring it to life, it’s already so vividly alive. Sometimes, my zone is just a little boost. Maybe it’s a two minute burst of that rush of the zone — maybe the zone is simply authentic to you.
- Why can’t you feel in the zone more? This is the tricky one, but, once you dive into the portal that takes you into the reality of your zone, you’ve got it. It’s not just an activity that takes you to the zone, it’s a feeling and a mindset that takes you to the zone. For me, this feeling is peace first and then a wholehearted feeling of my life being complete. When I feel like everything in my life is truly so meant to be and so aligned with the Universe (the true me), that’s my portal to the zone. Another perspective can be that to fully ascend in the zone, we must descend into our emotion, into those moments that truly allow us to grow. I do believe that without sitting in our truth, we cannot fully experience the zone. So, maybe to completely be in the zone we have to embrace all learning curves along the way.
- How do you stay in the zone? I think this is the quest of life, and it’s such a beautiful and magical quest. I’m still learning, and the zone is still teaching me the answer to this question! Maybe the magic of the zone is that it’s a special feeling, something unique and not a forever way of life. Or maybe that’s just an illusion and living fully from your soul is simply just living in the zone eternally! Who knows, and there’s such joy in that “who knows” because I know, through figuring out the answer, I get to experience the zone many many more times!!
Here’s to tapping into our zones through the portal of our purpose, living in our zones through the excitement for life and diving into the highs this journey truly brings!! Be fearless and free -Ace

Tag: athlete

balance

this dreamy descent

athlete mentality

passion

The Zone