All of us deal with adversity. Many of us struggle to cope and find ways to inject genuine happiness into our lives. One of those ways is sports. Only some of us understand the importance of sports and what it truly means to dive deep into its greatness.

As someone who deals with mental health, the history of my addiction – and its repercussions, I know how vital sports is to our collective mindsets. In fact, there’s not a day that goes by that I don’t count my blessings and thank the “Sports Gods” for giving me something that I can truly believe in, something I can literally lose myself in.

The beginning of 2020 should have made this point as clear as day to you. Having sports as a whole ripped away from society for the greater good of health and safety was shell shocking, even though it was the right decision. They aren’t kidding when they say ‘you don’t truly appreciate something until it’s gone.’

I’m truly grateful to see our world filled with renewed hope in terms of beginning a journey to end this horrible pandemic. In addition, I’m genuinely excited to see that sports has started to slowly re-emerge from its forced hibernation.

Thank you sports, never leave us again.

Perry Aston is the Co-Founder of Unwrapped Sports Network. Follow him on Twitter @perryaston