I'm very blessed, thankful, grateful for the opportunities I've had.
Christen Press
I haven't had many injuries, and I know that's because I take care of my body, and I do the things that I need to do to keep it strong.
I always want to keep my skin clean when I get up in the morning, and I use sunscreen before I go out to the field.
I try to practice mindfulness at all times, including the times where I'm nervous and I'm stressed.
Winning and losing isn't what's important. The attempt at success and getting to your best self is what matters.
There's a lot that's out of your control. But the one thing that you can control is your work ethic.
No hidden talents, but I have a lot of hobbies. Acrylic painting - I got a whole set, and I light candles at night and sit there and paint and look out on Lake Michigan.
I think I approach pressure by having discipline and learning to be calm in everyday life. I do this with a daily mindfulness practice and commitment.
I kind of felt like I was never good enough. I always wanted more.
I've stayed away from the actual L.A. scene for most of my life.
While I don't know if I exist in the land of the elite, I'm definitely on the battlefield with restlessness.
When I went to Sweden, I sort of found out who I was.
The European leagues have been there a long time, the coaches have been there, the clubs have been there, there's history to the teams. There's already that football support culture.
It's really special to play with your friends for your country.
My restlessness leaves my mind racing as I try to wind down at the end of mandatory recovery day. It keeps me tossing after poor performances. And if I played well, well... playing well makes me itch to play better; there is always room for improvement.
I've always preferred a 4-3-3. It's a more fluid and dynamic system, and I think it plays to my strengths better.
No Tinder, no Match, nothing. I don't mind going up to people when I'm out. I have a better chance of getting a read on them that way.
I remember playing games and having tears roll down my face because it felt like it was never going to be good enough.
I don't really own a lot of makeup. Usually, though, I don't leave the house without mascara. That is so essential for me. I love playing with lip color, too. I'm just really basic.
I gave up on the national team - I thought to myself, 'Well, that's just not something that's going to happen for me.' The national team was in residency camp; I was 6,000 miles away. Nobody was watching, nobody cared... I'm just going to go play for myself and my team and try to be great... and I had more fun than I'd have ever had.
Of course I have other passions and other interests, but soccer's always my priority.
We stress out over things we can't control. So if something is a stressor, you can just simply take the power away from it by focusing on something else.
I have butt muscles, thigh muscles, and then my upper body is super skinny - except for in my shoulders, which you need for a little bit of strength to hold other players off the ball. So I think I've developed muscles 100 per cent from just shooting the ball and running. Every single thing about my body looks like soccer.
Stanford's an amazing, amazing school. It was an extraordinary soccer program.
It's important for girls to feel strong and powerful even when they're playing sports.
I encourage all players to work to be their best, which includes looking for opportunities beyond the playing field.
Before I found my peace, I was way too much in my head. I found myself on the field in my own thoughts. I've learned that there's a time and a place for my thoughts. The most important thing when I'm on the field is to just be in the moment and let it all go.
I have crazy, curly, big hair, so,if I have time to try to make myself look presentable, I usually spend it doing my hair.
I think that a lot of women experience that balance between feeling insecure about and appreciative for their bodies. I definitely have.
I'm so excited to be a Coppertone brand ambassador because as an athlete, taking care of my body is a huge part of my job, and sunscreen is a vital part of that.
In the U.S., my whole life, I felt like I had to be the best and score more goals and run with more fitness so I could be the one in the limelight. I think that when I went to Sweden, I found the joy of being part of a team and contributing to everybody's success.
I think, a lot of my career and my life before I went to Sweden, I felt like I was trying to be someone else.
I always want to take on the giants.
You can be one inch from the national team and the opportunity to make so much money and a life out of it. That's why people hang on so long.
If you win games, at the top, there's no pressure to change. You change when you have to change. You change when you don't win anymore.
I'm very organized. I have my day-to-day schedule, every 15 minutes, written out.
It took me a while to learn, but we are allowed to make mistakes and have flaws.
When I left the U.S., I sort of left that frustration and that pressure to make the national team behind me.
I've had chronic back pain since I was a preteen - like, 12. I have really funny posture. I developed this funny posture where I hunch my back a little bit when I'm playing, and I overuse my back muscles instead of my abs. My posture has put a lot of strain on my lower back.
My mom is just authentically herself all the time. She loves herself. She loves her sense of humor. She brings people in when she talks. She brings people in when she laughs. Watching her, I think that that's when I first learned and was encouraged to be myself and to sort of love and live in that way.
Everyone, especially athletes and fans everywhere, need to make sunscreen and sun protection a priority.
I have learned that there's a little bit of a danger in stressing ourselves out and living in the future - worry affects how we are today.
The speed of life that top American athletes have is boom-boom-boom, and I'm a lot slower. I look before I cross, you know?
For a long time growing up, I thought that everything happens for a reason and it's kind of already written. But as I've grown and learned various things, I think that the most important moment is the one that you're in, and that's the only moment that matters, that you can really control. The future is unknown, and the past is history.
I've learned to love my body and myself over time by being a little more accepting and having grace with myself.
I find the ball, and I think, 'Where's the ball going, and where do I need to go?' It just puts me back in the game, and it's the simplest thing, but it's become sort of like my soccer mantra. I simply use the ball as my focus point and move back into position, and the distracting thoughts disappear, and I'm right back in the game.
Whether I'm running up and down the field or running errands, I make it a point to ensure that my skin is protected.
I think, in the U.S., we have such a focus on the physicality, on being the best athlete, that it sort of overshadows the football aspect of it.
I didn't have any natural instincts toward heading. It cost me lots of opportunities to score.
I would like to fight as hard as I possibly can in each and every game and win or lose, leave it at that, and move forward. I know in my heart that that is the mindset I need to be a successful and happy athlete.
