Serena Williams may not be officially retired, but she's still seeking ways to simply "be" during her time off. The 41-year-old tennis star opened up to her followers on Twitter that she's been having a difficult time while not constantly being on the go.
"I'm currently allowing myself to be tired. Allowing myself To relax. Allowing myself to just be. It's harder than I ever imagined," she wrote. "I've never allowed myself to do any of that before..."
It may seem hard to relate to someone who is widely considered the greatest player to ever play tennis, but Williams' vulnerability was immediately met with messages of understanding and support.
"Take it one day at a time. Allow yourself to feel all the feelings. This may be a new existence for you, so it's understandable how you feel," celebrity doctor Dr. Jen Caudle advised the tennis pro. Several others urged Williams to allow herself some grace as she adjusts to her new normal.
Williams' change of pace comes several months after she announced that she was going to step away from competitive tennis via an essay printed in Vogue.
"I have never liked the word retirement," Williams wrote. "It doesn't feel like a modern word to me. I've been thinking of this as a transition, but I want to be sensitive about how I use that word, which means something very specific and important to a community of people. Maybe the best word to describe what I'm up to is evolution."
Although many took the essay to mean she was officially done with the sport, Williams has reiterated that she's not "retired."
During an appearance at the TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco in October, the athlete stated that the chances of her returning are "very high... You can come to my house and [see]. I have a court."
Williams stated she "didn't even think about the whole retirement" when she made the announcement back in August.
"I started this company a while ago, so I just jumped right into that," Williams added, referencing her investment company, Serena Ventures, which has raised $111 million over the past year. "I didn't even think about the whole retirement.
"I still haven't really thought about it. But I did go on the court the other day and [realized] for the first time in my life that I'm not playing for a competition and that felt very weird. It was like the first day of the rest of my life, and so far, I am enjoying it. But I'm still trying to find that balance."
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