Succeeding Through A Personal Failure

In life we come across many adversities. Many people are faced with difficult decisions when coming across a personal failure. Most people become disheartened after failing and decide to give up or quit once they fail. I know what it feels like; just earlier this year, this volleyball season, I felt like a failure. I have been playing volleyball since I was ten years old. The past seven years of my life have been devoted to volleyball. The school season starts in May and ends around October. I get about one month off and then I’m back to playing again in November until the club season ends in May. I have devoted so much time to volleyball and becoming the best teammate and athlete I could be; however, at some point during my senior season I

began to burn out. I lost my drive and my motivation to play as hard as I possibly could every single game. It was a very hard thing to admit to myself because my parents had always instilled the value of hard work in me, and internally I felt as though I had let them down as well as being disappointed in myself. I wasn’t playing bad, I just wasn’t playing as well as I was before. In games it became an ongoing cycle for me. I would go in to play, make a mistake, become disheartened and get pulled. I was replaced by someone else and the position was no longer mine. For about a week I was miserable. I wanted to quit and not keep playing the sport that I love. However, I knew that quitting was not an option. Once I got it into my mind that I wasn’t going to fail, I came back and reclaimed my spot. Volleyball has taught me a lot about myself and a lot of life lessons, but most importantly it taught me to never give up and continue to work hard for something you want even if you feel like a failure.