Have you ever struggled mightily for something and succeeded? What made you successful?I looked in their faces and knew mine mirrored theirs. I didn’t want it to, but it did. Just ten minutes ago, we all were so jubilant. We were so sure we were going to win.
We had all wanted it for so long, but we finally felt is as our destiny just a few moments ago. But as our opponent threw the ball in the air, I knew she was just about to serve another ace. However, when the ball landed three feet in front of our best passer, something snapped inside of me. We were going to win the game. That was the end of it.
I knew it. We were the winners of that game. I stood up and yelled in a voice that even frightened me. I didn’t scream about moving our feet, or calling the ball, I screamed about how big of winners we were.
I was done with moping. For seven minutes of my life, I had forgotten that I could do anything I set my mind to, and I had given up. The worst seven minutes of my volleyball career were those seven minutes in the third game of the final match at Brighton Volleyball Tournament. I had put my determination down to wallow in my disappointment.
Disappointment needs to build determination. I had decided a long time ago that there were certain things in life that I could do better than other people. Those were my gifts. I use my gifts to my full potential. The server on the other team once again threw the ball into the air. This time, my teammate sprawled for the ball, and made a perfect pass to me, allowing me to set the ball and have my co-captain smash it to the ground.
I looked once again at the faces of my teammates. Things were different now. I knew at once that they knew what I knew. We were the winners of that game. We remembered that at that point, and were assured of it when the referee blew the final whistle after I served an ace on game point.
My determination and self-discipline returned the victory to my team. I have trained myself to use my talents to the best of my ability. In that game, I did not use only my volleyball skills, but my leadership skills gave me the power to change the expressions on my teammates faces. Benjamin Franklin synopsized my feelings when he said, “Hide not your talents, they for use were made.” .
