Letting go is a powerful thing. Ever since I was little I have wanted to succeed. There was one major thing that would hold me back though. It was the ability to let go. For most of my life I was afraid of failing and being a disappointment. This fear led me to always be thinking of my past mistakes and how if I changed one thing, things would have been different.

In my freshman year I started a new soccer team which was really scary. I remember being afraid of how people would view me and if my coach would even believe in me. These thoughts stemmed from the coach I had previously. This coach was the worst coach I have ever met. He was emotionally abusive and brought his players down instead of up. I would go home from practice crying everyday because this coach led me to believe I was a failure and disappointment. I would rethink every move I made. If you know anything about soccer it is best played in what is called the flow state. For me my flow state is letting go and trusting myself. With this old coach I would never be in the flow state. For the longest time I didn’t even know what it was. So I transferred teams.

My new coach, Joe, is someone who is very important to me. He is more than just a coach to me. He has supported me through many things and helped shape me into the person I am today. He also taught me the most important lesson I know today. The lesson of the power of letting go. It was my first practice of the year with a new team and I was very stressed. I was thinking about all the things that could go wrong and how it would make my new team and coach view me. We started by doing some foot drills. I have never been a soccer player with strong foot work, but back then it was horrendous. I would mess up and then think about that mistake for the rest of the drill and would be afraid to mess up again. At the end of the drill, Coach Joe told everyone to go get a drink. As I was drinking my water he came up to me. At that moment I was terrified. I thought he was coming up to me to tell me how much I suck. Boy I was wrong. He came up and said, “You’re doing pretty good out there Mae. There is just one thing I noticed, you seem to be hesitant and thinking too much.”

Then he said a saying that has stuck with me ever since and that I use to help others get through things. He said, “Be a goldfish.” At first I was extremely confused because what does a goldfish have to do with soccer? Then he explained that it was from this show called Ted Lasso and that it basically means to forget the past and to be happy.

After that practice I went home and begged my mom to get Apple TV so I could watch it. By the next practice I finished the whole show and was so glad that I did. It helped me fully understand the meaning of being a goldfish. According to the show, goldfish are the happiest animals because they have a five second memories. This means that they have the power to let go.

Since having this conversation with Coach Joe  and watching Ted Lasso, my look on failure and mistakes has completely flipped. Now instead of focusing on the past I have learned to let go and focus on the present. This lesson has been extremely helpful in not only soccer though. Whenever I catch myself thinking about a mistake or something that has happened I remind myself to be a goldfish and to let go. I think this world needs more goldfish. In life there will always be negative things to hold on to, and the best way to get over these problems and succeed is by being a goldfish.