The Windy, Sandy Road to a Land of Purpose

Six(ish) years ago I walked past the Yellowave Beach Sports Centre in Brighton, booked in for a beginners class, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Does six years sounds like a long time? It doesn’t feel it. And it’s true to say that I have absolutely no idea what life was like before beach volleyball. And that must be a good thing because, beach volleyball has, trite as it may sound, changed my life. It has given me friends, a community, confidence, belief, strength, fitness and so much more.

And then, a year into my beach volleyball journey I met Denise Austin — force of nature, passion-fuelled, whirlwind of excellence and again I was forever changed. I’d never really had a “coach” before. I’d had teachers, tried life coaching, I’d played sports to a fairly high level, but she was, and still is a REAL coach — sport touches life, life touches sport and so the circle continues.

So why am I telling you all this?

Well, the thing is, I now run a Beach Volleyball coaching business — Beach Volleyball School — and I’ve been spending the last month working out what on earth that actually means. Why, in fact, that should mean anything to anyone, including me?

And I discovered that it’s not the fact of me running a Beach Volleyball business that matters, it is in fact why I do it that matters. And how I do it. The truth is that Beach Volleyball itself isn’t the why, or the how — it’s the what. It’s the vehicle which allows me to “do my thing”.

Stick with me…I’m getting to my point. I never said this would be a quick read.

And “doing my thing”; some might calling it finding my flow, or being in my element, is the difference and why this business means something. Coaching allows me to satisfy my need to learn, whilst enabling others, it allows me to look forward and encourage others to move forward and allows me to focus on individuals and their needs. But here’s the thing — I’m 36 (37 in three days) and it’s taken me this long to find something I love that, without blowing my own trumpet, I am actually good at. There have always been things I’ve been good at — I was (and still am, I think) a good project manager but I never loved it — maybe odd moments here and there but never enough to want to push myself further and further. There have always been things I’ve loved — sports, words, chocolate, coffee — but none of those things have inspired me to take up opportunities to make a living out of them.

So what am I trying to say with all this?

This: as you get older, and your life changes around you, you realise how precious time is. You understand how much you miss by worrying and stressing out, by giving yourself a hard time and not being present with the people who matter most. My relationship with beach volleyball and the people who I’ve met as a result of this wonderful game, has taught me to slow down, to appreciate each moment, to revel in the little things, learn from what’s been and move forward. To keep moving on.

And that’s what I’ve gained from finding, and believing in, my thing — and I’ve barely got started.