maturity is a stupid thing.

i think there comes a time in everybody's life where you experience something that becomes your wake-up call. it's the one thing you can look back on that says, "wow, it's my turn to grow up a little now a get my priorities straight." this event for me? is my concussion. well, my most recent one that is. it was my 5th concussion in under a year and a half. and it really showed me: GET IT TOGETHER. you don't have that many more chances.

this is what happened.

i was at a water park in Colombia. there were no lifeguards, and no posted rules. some of the colmbians dove in to the pool. they came up and said, "Ariel! that was fun, you should do it!!" and so i did. i dove in. i dove in further than i should of. next thing i know, the right side of my forhead, above my eye, made intense contact with the pool floor. i curled up instantly into the "fetal position" clutching my head in my hands, and slowly floated to the surface. this took what felt like an eternity. i don't remember it well... i just remember pain, and water. i did my best to find the floor with my feet. so then, i was standing there. one hand tryin

g to keep my balance, the other, still holding my head. then, the next thing i remember is Eli saying, "are you ok?" i somehow managed to say, "yeah." i wasnt sure whether to cry or not. but i think it took all of my strength not to. i was just standing there. and i think my eyes might have been closed.. i don't remember. it's very vague. and then i heard Eli say, "did you hit your head?" and again, i said, "yeah." after that, i remember almost falling over, and then, all of a sudden, Eli was carying me in the water, and i told him that i was fine. the pain from the initial impact had started to fade. so after a couple seconds, he put me down. so, i slowly walked over towards Robbie and Ryan. they asked me if i was ok, and we kinda just laughed it off. i kept reaching up and touching my forehead though. something just did not feel right. i asked them if my head was swollen. and they said yes. haha. so then, i got out of the pool because i figured that i should tell pastor Tyler.

for your information, this concussion came after a previous head bump from about a week and a half earlier.

turned out i had a HUGE bump on my head. probably about 3'' x 1.5'' in size, and it probably was sticking out by almost a centimeter maybe. so i iced for a while, and moved on with my life.

let me tell you, that day, and the few days following, i was more out of it than i have

been in my entire life. i was not the same person. i couldn't even focus my eyes for more than 3 seconds.

anyway, after this whole incident a lot of things went down.

i went to the doctor where they said i should lay low for a couple days and do nothing but sleep.

i went to Ontario Bible Camp less than a week after the incident. while there, i jumped into a pool for polar bear which in turn, caused my brain to swell. yeah, that was fun. so that day, while everyone else enjoyed themselves, i had to sit and do nothing for 2 hours. hah. greeat.

then, when i got home, i played soccer. i played a game on Sunday, a game on Monday, practice on Tuesday, and a club tryout on Wednesday. the following day, i had a doctors appointment, where the doctor freaked out that i had been playing. i was then told that i couldn't play contact until september 1st. This killed me.

i have missed sooooooo much... but what i've learned, (this is my initial point hahah) is that there comes a time, when soccer is not more important that your own body. when you need to stop saying, "it doesn't matter, i don't have a choice, i haave to play soccer", and just

take care of your body. because in the long run? it's better to be out for a month and a half, than to keep playing, and be out for the rest of your life, if not die.

what i've learned is that i'm here on this earth for a reason. I could have broken my neck and died that day. but by the grace of God, i just got a severe concussion and a bump on my head.

my grandfather, broke his neck diving into a pool almost 50 years ago. thankfully, he didn't die. but still. he broke his neck.

my friend broke her entire back doing a flip over a snowbank. she could have been paralyzed. she should have been paralized. but she wasnt.

i have been told by many doctors that if i have another concussion, it could cause a lot of problems for the rest of my life. grade drops... some speech issues... memory loss... even personality changes. and a while ago, at my first couple concussions when people told me that, i figured, "pshhhh i get hit, i recover, i'm fine. they're exaggerating." but now? i know that they are completely legit. like, even know, i know that i'm missing something. i have no idea what, and i probably never will. i'm completely out of it. and the difference now, is that i'm not willing to let this happen again and get worse. this is my body. it's a temple. i need to take care of it... even if it means not playing. which, might i ad

d... is almost as painfull as the head. hahaha. but yeah.

my point is:

soccer is an incredible sport, and even though it hurts to not play? it will hurt more in the long run if you do when you shouldn't.

alright.

so yeah.

i feel like i had more to say... haha.

but i forgot.

go figure.

lol, peace out guys.

take care of yourself,

and take care of your head.

you may need it later in life.

-Ariel.