You already heard the story of the greatest discouragement of my life. The lesson? Someone will always be second-best. Fallen a little bit short. Couldn't keep up with the game. Sometimes, it's you.
The next challenge is accepting that you aren't perfect. Here's another story of imperfection. My story of feeling discouraged when I had no need. When I just wanted to be perfect, and my standards were impossibly high, too high for me to live up to.
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It was a cold winter's night at my first show meet ever. (Basically a recital, but with placings.) I was expecting nothing less than first place. I was setting standards that I couldn't live up to. Records that I couldn't break. I was only doing one thing, setting myself up for failure.
Floor was expected to be my best event tonight. So I went for it. Great routine. Front limber? Aced. Back roll? Great. Ending pose? PERFECT.
In this case, I wasn't the problem. Here's where the problem started:
At show meets for level 3 and all the others, my coach would choose parents to judge. BIG mistake. I know that this meet was just a recital, but COME ON!! At least choose an experienced person!
The lady was completely biased. She already knew who she wanted to win before anyone performed. Of course, she chose a cute little angel, and a third grader.
Okay.... YES, Mackenzie is a really adorable (at the time) four-year-old with the chubbiest cheeks, but SHE FELL in her floor routine! SHE. FELL!!!!!!!!
Now, I, on the other hand, did a perfect routine. I DESERVED A PERFECT TEN!!!! TEN POINT O, LADY! 10.0!!!!!
So tell me... HOW DID MACKENZIE PLACE FIRST??????
Then, on the beam, I only fell once. Heather, (I think that was her name, I vaguely remember, that was nearly two years ago) on the other hand if I must compare, didn't do the best routine either. How did I get fourth place, AND HEATHER PLACED FIRST???!!!! All due respect to Heather, but she didn't exactly qualify to win.
This was back in the days when there were no bars, vault, or all-around. So that was it. Third and fourth place.
I was so upset. It's one thing to lose. Another thing to lose when you know that you won. I wanted to cry, but what was the use? "I know that I won," I thought to myself. "Whether everyone else knows I'm a winner or not, I did win."
That didn't make me smile too long. After sleeping it off, that helped a little, but then I remembered that just because I don't win, doesn't mean that I lost. There many girls behind me. I didn't lose. I just didn't win.
The next meet, I remembered that, and instead of aiming for first place, I aimed for fun! And my comeback was stronger than ever!
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Next, you will hear my glory story--- how learning from that mistake helped me to aim for a good memory and how I scored higher than normal!
PLUS: Tips on how to make your meets more fun, and score even higher!
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