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It has been a long while….I know…I will get better and more consistent with this!! 😀

But, as some of you may have noticed, I have RECKLESS ABANDON tattooed across the right corner of my blog. I am sure a majority of you have no idea why those two words are there, or better yet why they are paired together. Words are very important to me. I chose those words for a purpose and now I am beginning to see that these words have been spoken over my life to challenge me and bring me into the various seasons of my journey.
 

Here's the story behind when I first heard one of those words.

It was in high school during basketball season. We had a home game and there was a pretty decent crowd for the small private school I went to. The game was intense. I remember flailing my body all over the place. Bruises, floor burns, and aches arrived immediately once the buzzer ended. I couldn't tell you what grade I was in, whether we won or lost, or even how my team and I played. I just remember that I felt like I had just reached the end of a battle. I felt accomplished and proud. I left the court with my head held high because of my battle wounds I had acquired that game.
 

While I was taking my shoes off and putting my sweats on, the boys varsity basketball coach at the time approached me. He sat down by me and said, "Club, (a nickname he gave me after I had a walking boot on for months) I have never seen someone play with such abandon. You completely forget about your body and just throw yourself everywhere after loose balls and do whatever it takes to help your team out. I remember one play, the ball got knocked loose and you dove out of bounds into the bleachers to get it without holding anything back. I thought for sure you would stop once it headed into the bleachers, but you didn't ease up at all. You play with great abandonment."

I knew exactly what he saying. SIKE. I had no idea what he meant at the time. I just laughed and said, "Thanks Coach Bill, I try :)." I figured he was just saying that I played really hard and tried to make it sound all fancy. Abandon. What the heck does that even mean. I told my mom (who was my coach, and yes-it was extremely difficult to play for her at times, no-I did not make varsity as a freshman because I was her daughter, yes-I earned every minute I played, and yes-it was some of the greatest times ever playing for her) what he had said to me and she broke it down by saying that I go all out, all the time, regardless of the possible outcome. Cool. I can live with that. Sounds like me anyway.

In sports, in the classroom, in friendships, and basically everything, I gave it all I had. I never held back. I tended to give too much of me and would get trampled on and disappointed sometimes, but I still gave the people I loved everything I had. This word abandon definitely defined who I was as a person both on and off the court…

ABANDON: to give up the control of: 

to yield (oneself) without restraint or moderation; give (oneself) over, usually without self-control:

I would say this picture of the somewhat controversial man known as Dennis Rodman sums up playing with ABANDON. 

After reading this and getting more of an understanding of what abandon means, some of you may question me and say, "Wouldn't you eventually get hurt? You can't always be like that or you will get yourself into trouble. Self-control is necessary. You need to hold back and not give everything or else you will get hurt. NEVER put all of your eggs in one basket."

I would agree…sort of…