Ashlyn Harris knows sometimes the biggest challenges happen off the field.
And navigating her public divorce from ex-wife Ali Krieger has made for one of Ashlyn’s toughest seasons yet.
“I’m navigating a divorce that’s been really hard,” Ashlyn said July 16 during a Women’s Health panel. “I’m just riding the waves and realizing I can only control what’s in my controllables. I can’t control everyone else’s reaction. I can’t control everyone else’s opinions of me. I have to own myself and my body and be present and be human.”
But while she can’t control what everyone else does, she can control how she shelters her and Ali’s children—daughter Sloane, 3, and son Ocean, 2—from the storm.
“My storm doesn’t have to be theirs,” the soccer star—who debuted her relationship with Sophia Bush in October—added. “It’s one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to go through, dealing with a divorce with two very young children and not letting them see or feel my storm and rain. It’s a really big test.”
And one of her go-to plays has been ensuring her own mental health is in check, including quelling her anxiety, which she likened to a fire.