Finding success after failure in sports – CLICK TO COMMENT

By Melanie Ades   All her life, Melanie wanted to be on the gymnastics team. That was her main life’s goal. She went to Aerial’s gymnastics every Friday to practice. She asked her coach if she can be on the team one day. Her coach replied, “You can be on the team if you practice more.” Every day, Melanie practiced a little bit more. The next week, she went to gymnastics. She told her coach that she’s been practicing more. “Now let’s see if you can do a back flip off the balance beam,” said coach. She did. Melanie was very excited. She got on the team. The team was having a rivalry against ACC gymnastics. She was nervous. It was her turn to perform. Melanie failed. She fell and embarrassed herself. Everyone on the team started laughing at her, which wasn’t nice sportsmanship. She thought she was never going to do gymnastics again. Melanie wanted to quit the team, but her coach wouldn’t let her. The team was having another face off. It was her turn. She fell again. It was a complete embarrassment. That was it. She quit. Her team was laughing at her thinking that she was never going to do gymnastics. Melanie went on with her life. After a few years, she looked back at the photos that they took of her during her turn. She started to cry. “I can’t give up,” she said. She went back to square one. She knew that she failed the back flip off the balance beam. She just practiced a little more. Instead of just going on Fridays, she went 5 days a week. After a while, she was on the team again. It was her turn. She was nervous. Guess what? She landed it perfectly. Everyone knew that they were wrong. She felt awesome.

This story was published in the Bar Mitzvah Magazine