WASHINGTON — I am an idealist, perfectionist, dreamer and believer. The older I get, the more I realize this about myself. Maybe because age and experience usually jade people and it surprises me how little I have changed.

This became most clear to me because I can never sleep on a plane ride home. I’m too wound up. On the return leg of each adventure my career has afforded me, my mind works nearly as fast as the jet that propels me through the air. I feel sentimental because often I am leaving a part of the world and people I may never see again. But I am energized by these beginnings that others may see as ends.

As I returned from playing in Cyprus, I felt sad to separate from an amazing place and group of people. I was also disappointed that we could not be the first women’s team from Cyprus to advance past the Round of 32 in the UEFA Women’s Champions League. As this chapter ended, I couldn’t help but reflect on my career. If you had told me as a teenager that at 27 I would be playing soccer for a team in Cyprus, I would have been steadfast in assuring you that is not the dream I imagined.

But that’s the thing about dreams. I have deeply misunderstood them and their place in my life. Dreams can provide addictive feelings — a pounding heart, trembling hands, racing mind, and then, a still heart. But I have been guilty of letting dreams dictate how I feel about my life. What I am learning to do instead is to let my life lead me to my dreams.