Fun, Fitness, and Fresh-air

  Maria Sharapova, like me before this past week, has also taken some time off from playing tennis.  She is recovering from a shoulder injury which has prevented her from playing since last August.  But that hasn't prevented this blonde-haired beauty from staying active.  In an interview with Women's Health magazine, Sharapova said, "To be honest, everything in my life outside of tennis is great.  I'm doing amazing projects that, if I didn't have time off, I wouldn't be able to focus on."

In fact, Sharapova told Women's Health magazine that eventually she wants to move her career completely away from tennis and move into fashion designing.  "I don't see myself playing tennis in 10 years," Sharapova told the magazine.

I guess that's what you could say I've been doing-- taking time off of tennis to focus on my career/college education.  However, I'm not all that close to becoming the affluent young female that Sharapova is.  According to a September 2008 Forbes magazine video, Sharapova is the highest paid female athlete.  What exactly does that mean?  She's raking in an annual income of $26 million!

A lot of athletes today are racking in money from areas other than sports.  From clothes, to cameras, to cereal boxes, almost all industries thrive on using athletes to sell their products.  This virtually makes the athlete a celebrity, making it easy for them land a millionaire job outside of athletics and making their transition after retiring from sports easier than ever.  Sharapova will have no problem moving into the fashion industry.  She's already seen as a kind of fashion diva/model.

I'll probably never be a tennis superstar, but I can at least dream of having the lifestyle Sharapova plans on leading after retiring from tennis--money, interviews, fashion, and tennis as a recreational hobby.  Doesn't sound so bad, does it?  Pshh...Keep dreaming...