There is no doubt that motherhood is such a life-changing event. We heard it all from our own mother, our aunts, friends, and other women dear to us. We try to prepare for the baby as much as we can -- from taking birthing classes to prepping our hospital bag (more like a suitcase, am I right?) to somehow ease our transition to our new role as a mom. But no matter how much we try to prepare for it, motherhood will surely change us, and no mom is immune to it, not even tennis superstar Serena Williams.
For someone who had lived a healthy and active life, Serena Williams sure did not expect a host of medical issues to come her way as she gave birth to her daughter Olympia in September 1, 2017. Because of her daughter’s complicated birth, Williams had to postpone training for her next tournament. Pre-motherhood Williams would have wanted so bad to go back to training, but Mommy Serena knew that her time off to regain her strength also meant more time with her baby.
While not all of us may have the same experience as Serena Williams, I know we can all relate to how she handled the new phase in her life. Like Williams, many of us had to take a step back and rethink our career goals once the new baby came into the picture. Some of us had to leave the corporate world completely, while there are also moms out there who had to negotiate for fewer hours or workload, and other moms had to take on another job to make ends meet. And yet somehow, at the end of the day, seeing our children happy makes every sacrifice worth it.
Aside from changes in our career, our priorities sure had shifted. Playing professionally since the age of 14, Serena Williams’ knows how to get her priorities straight, and that is tennis. You wouldn’t win 23 Grand Slam titles and rank Number 1 female tennis player in the world if you don’t have priorities in life. For 25 years, her focus was solely on tennis. But all of that changed since she became a mom. Throughout her medical scare and seven-week bed rest, her focus was on Olympia. Ín her cover story with Vogue, Williams admitted that being a mom reminded her of one of her goals in life ‘before tennis took over’ and that is to have her own child.
A change of priorities does not mean we have become less of a person. It just means we are slowly acknowledging the fact that as mothers, we have evolved to stronger and more resilient version of ourselves. For Serena Williams, winning her first tournament for this year is a strong testament to that.
Most of us may not have Serena's Grand Slam titles under belt, but motherhood had us all on equal footing. Just like Serena, who eventually went back to the court and is currently ranked ninth, we will be able to get back on our feet and be the supermoms that we all are, no matter how much our lives had changed post-partum. Because to be honest, motherhood made us tougher and nothing can faze us now.
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