Monthly Archives: April 2025

The Man, The Myth, The Legend: How Steven Gerrard Made Me Fall in Love with Liverpool FC

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There are moments in life you don’t fully remember — but you never forget how they made you feel.

For me, one of those moments came quietly during the summer of 2005.
A certain football club, dressed in red, and a captain named Steven Gerrard stole my heart without me even realizing it.

Back then, I didn’t know I was at the start of a lifelong love story.
A story with Liverpool FC — filled with hope, heartbreak, belief, and miracles.

In the summer of 2005, I first heard the name Liverpool FC — the world still buzzing from their miracle in Istanbul.
At the heart of it was Steven Gerrard: the captain, the heartbeat, the legend.
His mythical performance that night sparked something in me — a connection that would never fade.

My passion for Liverpool FC wasn’t born out of peer pressure.
It didn’t come from friends, family, or fleeting trends.
It was organic, pure, and entirely my own.

It was born from watching Steven Gerrard — a player who wore loyalty, passion, and heart on his sleeve.
A player who gave everything for the badge on his chest.

Liverpool, at that time, weren’t a dominant force.
They were a “sleeping giant” — a club steeped in history but short on recent triumphs.
There were no Premier League titles to parade, no domestic dominance to bask in.
But none of that mattered to me.
I wasn’t drawn to Liverpool because they were winning; I was drawn to Liverpool because they never stopped believing.
Because they fought.
Because they had a captain who refused to let the flame die.

Being a Liverpool fan in the early 2000s meant learning patience the hard way.
There were flashes of brilliance — Istanbul in 2005, the FA Cup Final in 2006 (another Gerrard masterclass) — but no sustained dominance.

Meanwhile, rivals like Manchester United and Chelsea seemed to lift trophy after trophy.
Liverpool, on the other hand, often found themselves battling inconsistencies and heartbreak.

And strangely, that made my connection even stronger.
It wasn’t the easy road.
It wasn’t about supporting a team because they always won.
It was about loyalty. About resilience. About belief.
The same values that Gerrard embodied every time he stepped onto the pitch.

The 2013/14 season felt different from the first whistle.
Under Brendan Rodgers, Liverpool played fearless, fast, free football.
With Suárez, Sturridge, and Gerrard leading the charge, the title was within reach.
Though it ended in heartbreak, it reignited a spark in every Liverpool fan — a belief that had been dormant for years.

Looking back, my journey as a Liverpool supporter has been a tapestry of heartbreaks, miracles, near-misses, and unforgettable nights.
But through it all, the common thread has always been one name:
Steven Gerrard.

He wasn’t just a footballer who scored goals or won matches.
He was — and still is — the soul of a generation.
A player who didn’t just lift trophies; he lifted hopes, dreams, and hearts.

Today, under Arne Slot, Liverpool are writing new chapters.
Heroes like Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk inspire a new wave of fans.
But for me, my foundation will always be rooted in the days when Gerrard carried a city’s dreams on his shoulders — through storm and sunshine.

Some heroes lift trophies.
Some lift entire generations.
Steven Gerrard did both.

“Supporting Liverpool was never about winning — it was about believing. And Steven Gerrard made it impossible not to believe.”

You’ll Never Walk Alone. 🔴

Mid-30s: A Phase, a Vibe, a Quiet Revolution

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You ever wake up at 2:47 AM, heart racing, mind sprinting, thinking about emails you haven’t answered, responsibilities you didn’t ask for, and dreams that now come with EMIs?

Yeah, welcome to your mid-30s.

It’s not like other age groups don’t have stress. But this? This is the premium level—the “hair’s falling, gut’s rising, back’s aching like your worst breakup” package.

No one warns you. There’s no drumroll. No big neon sign saying, “You’ve arrived.”
One day you’re sipping black coffee instead of oat milk lattes, reviewing back-to-back meetings, and realizing your knees sound like bubble wrap. And it hits you:
Oh. This is it. This is the mid-30s vibe.

And truthfully? It’s a whole mood.

This is where experience meets exhaustion.

Where ambition has to consult your energy levels first.
Your 20s were all about chaos, caffeine, and character development.
Now? You’ve got more wisdom, more clarity—and, yep, more back pain.

And yet, in the middle of it all, you pause and wonder:
“Is this really my life… or someone else’s LinkedIn post?”

Spoiler alert: It’s yours.
And you’re doing better than you think.

Success still matters. But fulfillment hits different.

Maybe you’re managing a team, running a business, or building something that actually matters.
You’re done chasing shiny things for the sake of “achievement.”
You crave impact. Purpose. Alignment.
(Bonus points if you can log off before 8 PM without guilt.)

Your circle? Smaller. Stronger. Curated.

You’re no longer collecting friends like Pokémon.
Brunches are rarer—but deeper.
Networking for exposure? Pass.
Now it’s about mutual growth, shared values, real connection.

Metabolism? Sluggish.

Sleep? Sacred.
You’ve learned the difference between burnout and “just tired.”
You Google anti-inflammatory foods, read supplement labels, and your new fitness goal?
Keep your spine happy. Keep your energy stable.
(Standing desk, anyone?)

You still like applause. But now you crave silence more.

A moment without notifications? Bliss.
You don’t chase validation anymore. You chase alignment.
And you say “no” like a seasoned pro.
No drama. No guilt. Just clean, crisp boundaries.

You leave group chats.
Decline calls.
Skip meetings with “this could’ve been an email” energy.

Your calendar is now a fortress.
Time is your currency. And you’re budgeting it like Warren Buffett.

The dream shifted.

It’s no longer “retire at 35 as a billionaire.”
It’s “own a bit of land, grow some tomatoes, start that passion project, feel peaceful on a Tuesday.”

You’ve realized that growth isn’t always loud.
Sometimes, it’s quiet, consistent, and deeply personal.

Your 30s are not a downfall.
They’re not a crisis in disguise.
They’re a checkpoint.
A pause.
A moment to realign, reassess, and reclaim your narrative.

You’re not lost.
You’re leveling up.

Biting Water: A Lesson in Letting Go

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I recently came across a blog that was deeply reflective and spoke to many of the internal struggles we face when we’re determined to control everything around us, only to discover that sometimes surrendering is the most powerful choice we can make.

There’s a quiet wisdom in understanding that strength isn’t just about battling the current; it’s about knowing when to stop fighting and trust the flow. It’s about mastering the art of letting go and going with the flow, and it really shifted my perspective in a way that felt enlightening.

You’ve probably been there before putting everything you have into something, determined to make it work despite all the challenges that seem unmovable. You’ve faced problems head-on, using your strength and persistence, only to find that they won’t bend.

You’ve yelled at the wind, begged the tide to turn, and vented your frustration at people who refuse to change. It’s maddening, isn’t it? When you realize that no matter how hard you try, some things just won’t shift in the way you want them to.

Here’s the lesson: not every battle is won by force. Some are won by letting go.

Strength loses its meaning when it’s applied in the wrong way. Some things can’t be forced, just like you can’t bite water, no matter how sharp your teeth are.

Think of the future that scares you. You can obsess over every detail, trying to control everything, or you can pause and focus on the present, taking one step at a time.

In moments of desperation, when you’re ready to fix everything, pause and ask yourself: What if I stopped fighting this? What if I simply watched, listened, and let go?

You’ll often discover that the problem wasn’t yours to solve. Or you might see that the solution arrives on its own.

There is power in both the will to push forward and the will to let go. Both are essential for developing a strong will.

As the saying goes, tend your garden, but don’t dig up the seeds to check their roots. Love, but don’t cling to those who choose to leave. Want, but don’t obsess. Work hard, but trust that some things are best left to the forces of nature.

I know it’s scary. Letting go can feel like freefalling. But what if the net appears? What if that fall becomes flight?

When you stop using your energy to fight things that can’t be forced, something within you begins to change. You stop trying to bite the water and realize it wasn’t your enemy at all—it was a lesson for you to learn, a reality to accept.

So, sometimes, you need to put down the sword.

Stop biting the river.