I'm really thankful for my time in the AFL, but I'm also

Sam Kerr, a warrior of the modern sporting age, once declared: “I'm really thankful for my time in the AFL, but I'm also thankful I had to make the switch, because there was no pathway for me at that time in AFL.” These words are not merely about sport, but about the mystery of destiny, about how closed doors often lead us to the very path we were born to walk. She honors the past that shaped her, yet she bows to the wisdom of change, understanding that sometimes a dream must be surrendered so a greater dream may unfold.

The origin of this saying lies in Kerr’s early years in Australian Rules Football. As a young athlete, she possessed immense skill and fire, yet the system of her time offered no clear road for women to rise and thrive within that sport. To remain would have been to stagnate. Thus, with courage, she turned to football — the world’s game — where her gifts found soil deep enough to grow. From that decision blossomed one of the greatest soccer careers of her generation, carrying her name across nations and inspiring millions.

History offers us many reflections of this truth. Consider Christopher Columbus, who dreamed of reaching the East by sailing west. Denied support from many rulers, he turned his sails toward those who would believe in him, and in doing so, stumbled upon a New World. His original dream could not be fulfilled as he imagined, yet by embracing a new course, he reshaped history. So too did Sam Kerr’s switch from AFL to football prove that when one path closes, another — greater, bolder, more fitting — may appear.

Kerr’s words remind us that thankfulness must embrace both gain and loss. It is easy to be grateful for success, but it is wisdom to be grateful also for rejection and redirection. To give thanks for what is denied is to acknowledge that life is not a chain of failures, but a tapestry where each ending is the beginning of something new. Gratitude transforms disappointment into preparation, and blocked pathways into hidden blessings.

To the youth, this teaching is a shield: do not despair when doors close. The absence of a pathway does not mean the absence of purpose. If one road is denied to you, do not waste your spirit in bitterness. Seek the open road, and with courage step upon it. The story of Sam Kerr shows that sometimes the blocked path is the very gift that sets you upon your true calling.

To those already walking the journey of life, the reminder is this: be flexible and fearless. Do not cling to what no longer serves you. Be willing to change, to adapt, to switch paths when the moment demands it. For to resist change is to decay, but to embrace it is to discover new horizons of possibility. The one who can turn loss into opportunity will never be without a future.

The eternal lesson is this: life is a series of paths, some open, some closed, but all guiding you toward your destiny. Give thanks for each — the beginnings that nurtured you, the endings that forced you forward, and the new journeys that revealed your true strength. Sam Kerr’s words are a living testimony that destiny is not destroyed by redirection, but often born through it.

Thus let it be taught: when one path ends, rejoice, for another is beginning. Be thankful for the shaping of the past, and thankful also for the redirections of fate. For the path you are meant to walk may not be the one you first dreamed, but it will be the one that leads you to your greatest becoming.