You Are Your Choices

Yesterday, I lost my passport. In normal circumstances, this is just something that happens to people from time to time. An unwelcome inconvenience but not an earth shattering event. For me, nearing the end of an almost year long residency application process in the United Arab Emirates, this had the potential for some serious and impactful consequences.

I had just been for a medical screening and, afterwards, left my keys and passport on the roof of my car as I sanitised my hands (cheers COVID). I then promptly grabbed my keys, hopped into my car and drove off. Only after getting back home did I realize what had happened, when my passport was nowhere to be found and a passport-sized imprint was left streaked across the roof of my car. My mind quickly spiraled as I raced back to the car park that I had left 20 minutes before. While I was driving, I tried to talk myself through it and visualize my passport sitting there on the tarmac, untouched and...

The Nutmeg that Gave Me Tunnel Vision for Motivation & Success.

To some it’s a tasty spice you add to porridge or béchamel sauce; to a footballer (soccer) player, a ‘nutmeg’ is the embarrassing situation midgame where your opponent flicks the ball straight through your legs and then collects the ball on the other side. Rhyming slang for legs, it’s usually accompanied by loud cries of ‘nutmeg’ or ‘megs’ from opposition players so it’s celebrated publically in ways you don’t want! Per the cover photo to this article, it’s the ultimate on-field humiliation.

I’ve been on the receiving end of megs (former teammates may say a lot!) but I recall the rare time I called it out on someone else. I had been travelling all over the United Kingdom and this was my 8th trial in professional football, attempting to secure a full-time contract at an English Premier League club.

A lone Australian, trying to make the...