The Soul Goals, Episode 49: Rob

With a passion to teach and a heart to serve, Rob Long has been involved in athletics for a number of years in both playing, coaching, and guiding others in their journey.  His youth found him supported and uplifted by a family that knew the value of hard work and exploring life to the fullest.  It made complete sense for this former collegiate football and indoor volleyball player to leave his home state of Ohio after graduating and move across the country to California to pursue his dreams of a professional career in beach volleyball until his health jeopardized all he knew.

Rob found himself faced with a serious immune function that left him depleted and barely able to move after years of playing and excelling athletically.  Debilitating and frustrating, Rob’s condition sidelined him from his lifelong knowing of movement,  giving him serious pause and forcing him to reevaluate all that he had known in his young life.  Rob had to abandon his dream and return to his family in Ohio to begin the healing process.

Rob reminisces about this time of his life, lovingly speaking of the lessons learned and the possibility of things going a different direction for him.  Without his condition and this health challenge, he wouldn’t have met his wife and gone on to have a beautiful and full family.  He wouldn’t have began a flourishing career in beach volleyball as a loved and respected coach.  And he wouldn’t have known the gift of self awareness and spiritual connectedness.  Through his struggle, Rob has learned the value of helping his athletes uncover the person under the sport, something developed out of his own challenge as he walks-his-walk on the daily!

Everyone has a story, and every story matters!