Vero Posted July 10, 2015 Share Posted July 10, 2015 (edited) I'm a senior in high school and, throughout these 3 years, I have been running Cross Country as a sport. However, I cannot decide on whether to continue with it or not. I feel as though I should not leave it because I have an obligation as one of the best guys on the team to help them out. I also feel as though I will be left out as a lot of my friends are on the team. I've gained much of my identity, self-confidence, and peace of mind from cross country, but last season, and lately, it has brought me a lot of anxiety and stress. I worry incessantly about upcoming competitions, and I feel that expectations for my performance have risen as I have gotten better. I'm obsessing over whether I will make it to Regionals this year as it is my last year, which it is stressing me out. A lot of my previous friends on the team have left and it hasn't felt as great as my sophomore year when they were all here and expectations weren't high. I had a very stressful junior year because of a rigorous class curriculum and cross-country, and I had to quit cross country mid-season because it was too stressful. I fear that this same scenario will happen again, and I don't want to leave my teammates like I did before because it was too painful. However, I am very ambivalent on this issue because I still have some hope that this next season could still be as good as that of sophomore year. However, this is the same way I felt last season, and it really wasn't. I feel like I will lose myself if I'm not on the team; I feel like I will be left out. If I don't do it this year, I don't want to see them at practice or at all because I will question myself and my decision. I've invested sooo much blood, sweat, and tears into improving in Cross Country that I feel it would be crazy to leave it now, but it would also be crazy to stick with something that isn't serving me well. The season hasn't started yet, but I want to make a decision now because I don't want to regret it and I have to do pre-conditioning. Advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Edited July 10, 2015 by Vero Link to post Share on other sites
d0nnivain Posted July 10, 2015 Share Posted July 10, 2015 The nice thing about decisions is that you can change them Colleges like to see well rounded applicants, which usually includes a sport. Doing a sport plus your school work shows good time management skills. If you were stressed by the combo you probably need better time management not to quit sports. Running is also supposed to alleviate stress, not cause more of it. Talk to a guidance counselor about some of this. Discuss it with your parents. Perhaps find a low cost time management course you can take over the summer. Link to post Share on other sites
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