For the Athlete Who is Afraid of What's Next...

Change has always been scary for me.

I used to hold on to things too tightly. Routines. Relationships. Identities. Even versions of myself that I had already outgrown. If it was familiar, I felt safe. And for a while, that strategy worked. But what I could not see then was how tightly gripping what felt safe was also keeping me stuck.

It created harm in quiet ways.

Harm in relationships.

Harm in my emotions.

Harm in my self beliefs.

Harm in the way I viewed change as something threatening instead of transformative.

With what I know now, I embrace change. Not because it is easy, but because resisting it costs more. I sometimes think about how different my younger years might have felt if I understood that change was not something to fear. Maybe I would have felt less anxious. Less overwhelmed. More present.

But we do not get to go back, we only get to move forward.So now, I choose to pass on what I have learned to women, to athletes, to young humans navigating pressure, performance, identity, and growth.

And on that note of change, February 17 brings the Lunar New Year and a solar eclipse. Both are reminders that life moves in cycles and that endings and beginnings often exist at the same time.

The Lunar New Year is rooted in reflection and intention, not just celebration. It is about acknowledging where you have been and consciously choosing how you want to step into what is next.

This year carries the energy of the Fire Horse. The Fire Horse symbolizes courage, independence, passion, and bold transformation. Fire brings illumination, but it also requires responsibility. It can warm and energize, or it can burn and consume.

Athletes understand fire. We feel it in competition, in ambition, in high standards, in the intensity we bring to our sport. The real question though, is whether we are directing our fire or letting it direct us.

What makes this Lunar New Year extra powerful is its alignment with that solar eclipse, which carries its own symbolism. Eclipses represent shadow and light, what has been hidden becomes visible, what has been avoided asks for acknowledgment, and they invite pause and awareness before forward movement.

For athletes, this might mean recognizing burnout instead of pushing through it. It might mean acknowledging fear of failure instead of covering it with frustration. It might mean releasing an outdated identity such as starter, scorer, captain, or the reliable one. It might mean choosing growth over control. Change is not the threat, avoidance is.

If you want to honor this day in a practical way, start small and intentional.

1. Release one thing you have been gripping too tightly and write it down. A role. A mistake. A comparison. A fear. Ask yourself whether holding onto it is helping you perform or simply helping you feel temporarily safe.

2. Then choose one small action that loosens your grip.

3. Reflect on your fire. Where has it been showing up as self criticism, overtraining, or emotional reactivity? Where could it instead become disciplined focus, purposeful effort, or competitive composure? Fire is powerful when directed correctly.

4. Set an intention instead of a resolution because resolutions are outcome driven. Intentions are identity driven.

5. Finally, sit quietly for a few minutes and ask yourself what feels uncomfortable right now. What are you avoiding? What part of you needs acknowledgment? Awareness reduces anxiety. Avoidance feeds it.

Change used to feel like losing control. Now I understand it as alignment.

The Fire Horse invites boldness without recklessness and the eclipse invites awareness without fear. The Lunar New Year invites renewal.

You do not need to grip your identity so tightly. You do not need to control every outcome. You do not need to fear the version of yourself you are becoming. Sometimes growth feels like instability before it feels like strength.

If you are in a season of transition in your sport or in your life, consider this your permission to loosen your grip.

Let the fire refine you.

Let the eclipse reveal you.

Let the new year renew you.

And choose, consciously, how you move forward.