What I’ve come to realize, and what soccer reinforces, is that in every struggle there is an internal battle within a larger conflict. The fight on the outside may be much more visible but the fight on the inside is no less consequential.

Rather than humility being a synonym for submission from others, we ought to think of it as a catalyst for growth and change within ourselves. Reflection combined with hard work is what humility looks like in action.

Deep systemic change only happens when we are courageous enough to consistently reflect on the morality, the attitudes, and the language that have combined to form the society and the world we find ourselves in today.