{"id":660,"date":"2022-08-17T16:18:31","date_gmt":"2022-08-17T16:18:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/andreataylorconsulting.com\/?p=660"},"modified":"2022-10-25T23:40:38","modified_gmt":"2022-10-25T23:40:38","slug":"serenas-choice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/andreataylorconsulting.com\/?p=660","title":{"rendered":"Serena’s Choice"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Many of you might have read Serena Williams\u2019 retirement announcement in Vogue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I look at Serena, I see this formidable woman who has broken barriers. I see a hero. I see a conqueror.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And, even though I have a couple decades on her, Serena is my role model. She is the epitome of a strong, intelligent, powerful, ambitious, successful woman.  She\u2019s one of the greatest athletes who ever lived. And she\u2019s dominated her sport on her own terms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the real reason for my effusive praise is Serena\u2019s honesty. Even with all her fame, money, talent and confidence she struggles with the same stuff we all do. In this recent Vogue article<\/a>, she admitted how terrifying retirement is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I empathize with her particular \u201cSophie\u2019s choice\u201d (or, in this case, \u201cSerena\u2019s Choice\u201d). Continue with tennis \u2013 a sport she has dominated – or choose her family. Professional women \u2013 women who love their careers, but are also completely devoted to their children and families \u2013 have often found themselves in similar situations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This choice is especially agonizing because Serena remains at the top of her game. It might be easier for her if she had slid in tennis rankings or had simply had her fill. But her passion for tennis remains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While we may not have Serena\u2019s spectacular career, many of us can relate. Just as we rack up success, master our own game, and enjoy the victories, it\u2019s our time to step away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The void and confusion that often comes with retirement is really not discussed. Nor is the inevitability of feeling irrelevant, or the difficulty of having to start over or reinvent ourselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Retirement is \u2013 like money, sex, and increasingly politics \u2013 a taboo subject. Or rather, speaking honestly about retirement seems to be taboo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I recall going to a pre-retirement seminar and being surrounded by all of these happy, relaxed people. Oh, if they only knew what they were in for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yeah, sure. Retirement is great for those who really hate their jobs. But if you\u2019re like Serena, it\u2019s tough to walk away when you\u2019re at the apex of your career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Serena wasn\u2019t forced into retirement and neither was I. I decided to walk away when I was still passionate and successful. The challenge, for me at least, was forging a new path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, I appreciate Serena\u2019s antipathy toward the word retirement. Instead, she speaks of evolution, and that seems right. For a few of us, the old adage about one door closing and another opening bears truth. But for many of us, if we\u2019re completely honest, we\u2019ve walked through a few wrong doors and some have even remained closed. Transition \u2013 evolution \u2013 is not easy. But the beauty is in the opportunity. To recreate ourselves or to explore completely new ventures. Serena already has a few irons in the fire that were likely not even on her horizon when she first became a champion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So Serena will be just fine and, while I acknowledge the struggle of her transition, I am so very grateful and relieved that someone of her stature has had the courage to express her doubts and vulnerability. More than ever, Serena is my hero.<\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many of you might have read Serena Williams\u2019 retirement announcement in Vogue. When I look at Serena, I see this formidable woman who has brokenRead More<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":661,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"rise-blocks_total_comments":0,"rise-blocks_categories":[{"term_id":1,"name":"Uncategorized","slug":"uncategorized","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":47,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":1,"category_count":47,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Uncategorized","category_nicename":"uncategorized","category_parent":0}],"rise-blocks_excerpt":"Many of you might have read Serena Williams\u2019 retirement announcement in Vogue. When I look at Serena, I see this formidable woman who has broken barriers. I see a hero. I see a conqueror. And, even though I have a couple decades on her, Serena is my role model. She is the epitome of a strong, intelligent, powerful, ambitious, successful..","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/andreataylorconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/660"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/andreataylorconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/andreataylorconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andreataylorconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andreataylorconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=660"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/andreataylorconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/660\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":668,"href":"https:\/\/andreataylorconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/660\/revisions\/668"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andreataylorconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/661"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/andreataylorconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=660"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andreataylorconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=660"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andreataylorconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=660"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}