CNN interviewed Serena Williams when she was 9. Here’s what she said
It was a simple question, yet so difficult for Williams to answer.
What is the meaning of life?
“The meaning of life, I don’t really have yet, but I hope that I will have a meaning in life. And if somebody asked me the meaning of life, I would say to them, ‘Well I believe that you are never going to know the meaning of the meaning of life. One of the reasons that I like to do sports is that one day, I hope I will know the meaning. And that will be the meaning of my life.”
Serena Williams
With a little over 10-minutes left in the interview, Williams paused to catch her breath. One of the things she’s doing to become a better tennis player is to keep her emotions to a minimum.
“This is just one question, I think the question is so difficult for me to answer,” Williams said. “I don’t know the answer that I’m going to have a reason to live my life. I don’t know what it is that I have to do. I’m just not sure and I wish I knew.”
Later that week, Williams posted a picture of herself on her Instagram page and wrote her answers to the same question in all lowercase letters.
Williams is one of the most polarizing athletes in the world. She came out as transgender in 2015, saying that she began to feel “different” at a young age. She also came out in her native South Florida, where she lives with her family, telling her fans that she has felt their love for her all of her life, and that it will never leave her heart. But she hasn’t always lived the life that she wants.
She was only 9 years old before she started playing tennis.
“I never ever want to be judged by what other think about me or judge me,” Williams explained. “I’ve always been that way.
“The people who you see that you are going to judge them by, I don’t like to judge myself. I always judge myself. I’ve never ever wanted to be judged like that. I’ve always wanted to be judged on my actions and I wanted