Perspective.
It's something that has been consistent in the illustrious 25-year playing career of the one and only Marta.
It's also the biggest thing that has kept her going now as she is about to turn 39 years old in one month's time.
After winning the NWSL Shield and NWSL Championship in 2024, many thought that it would be the storybook ending to a legendary career. Marta, on the other hand, wasn't quite ready to hang up the boots just yet.
"I always put myself in a situation that can challenge me and prove that I can still play at a high level," she told Orlando-Pride.com, "I still have this feeling, I wake up early in the morning and run 5 or 10k, because I want to be able to keep playing, do what I did last year and keep helping this club make history."
That feeling and that passion for the game has been something that has driven the Orlando Pride's number 10 through her professional career, since she first started playing the beautiful game on the streets of Brazil at six years old.
"I want to play because this game makes me happy," she said. "I want to play because, as I feel happy, I make other people happy, and I still have this feeling that I want to play because I love to win. I love to feel the adrenaline of the game. I want to feel all of this because I still have the passion to wake up early, go to training, compete with my teammates, make myself good, and then make them good too. I have all of the ingredients that you need to have to play the sport, not only for fun, but because you want to be good."
Joining after the team's inaugural 2016 season, the Brazilian made her debut for Orlando in the very first match at Inter&Co Stadium (formerly Orlando City Stadium) back in March of 2017, which means there has never been a season at the stadium in the team's history that has not featured Marta.
Now, after agreeing to sign a new two-year contract with the Club, there's an almost serendipitous meaning behind the Pride's number 10 staying through her 10th season with Orlando.
“I feel so confident and so happy to have the opportunity to sign for two more years," she said. "It means a lot to me that I'll reach 10 seasons with the Pride wearing the No. 10 jersey most of my career. It means something to me. It feels like a good reason, and I am just happy that I have this opportunity to stay here.”
Despite her tenure with the club, the multiple awards she's won over her decorated career and the worldwide adoration she still garners, Marta isn't in the business of looking back on all she's done. At least, not yet.
"I really don't like to think so much about that," she said. "Honestly, I'm a little bit afraid. As long as I want to keep playing, I just want to look forward and think about how much I can do, how much more I can win, and how much more I can achieve. I don't want to be stuck in the past. There are so many soccer players, men's and women's, that are stuck in what they did, and they can't produce anymore. They're still at a good age to keep playing. I saw some big names who did so much for the soccer stopping at 32 or 33. I'm like, I'm fine, I'm good."
"I'll probably think about all I've done when I stop playing, but right now, it's not my priority. I'm gonna have time for all of this after, but right now, I'm just looking forward to how we can keep making history here. This is my priority."
"Then, I hope to live a long life and go back from the beginning to the end of my career. But for now, I want to look forward and think about what I can still do here."
With all of that in mind, Marta knows that the end of her time on the pitch is inevitable, but as long as she can keep going and she keeps having fun doing it, the end is still a long way away.
"I know I can't play forever," she said. "It's gonna come to one point that I need to say, 'hey, it's time to go.' Maybe after these two years here, we'll see, but I wanna enjoy as much as I can these two seasons, the last two seasons with Orlando, and to just keep having fun."