The Lesson in Quitting
For the past 7 years of my life, swimming has played a huge role. Growing up, I had always enjoyed being in the water, and was one of the odd kids that genuinely enjoyed swimming lessons, no bribes required (thinking about it, I wish I had some of those kids in the lessons I teach now). Overtime, it began to feel less like a passion and more like an obligation; something I had committed to that was too late to stop. I was afraid to quit, afraid to disappoint, and trying to be dedicated to a sport I had lost interest in made me start to hate it. This year, I finally decided to drop the sport, and am now embracing the huge change it has had in my life.
I was never the fastest competitor on the team, never the one with the lofty goal of achieving an Olympic medal, or compete at the international level. I wasn’t a natural by any means, but I knew how to work hard, and when I put in the effort and I could get results. I was in the upper quarter of finishers and finalists, winning some events, losing others. I was happy, and had fun competing in the sport, reveling my recently discovered realization – as long as I continued to work hard and dedicate myself to the sport, I could do well.
I trained and …show more content…
School became a lot harder, especially because in the past I found it pretty easy to complete assignments and course work with only average effort and still be happy with my marks. I found I really needed to put time into studying for the first time. I became more stressed about academic success, and the social pressure in our grade skyrocketed to an all-time high. Meanwhile, I was expected to be at practice for a minimum of 1.5-2 hours a night, plus some weekends and a few mornings. I also enjoy being active throughout different areas of the school, in which my various commitments added up quickly, none of which I wanted to
For the past 7 years of my life, swimming has played a huge role. Growing up, I had always enjoyed being in the water, and was one of the odd kids that genuinely enjoyed swimming lessons, no bribes required (thinking about it, I wish I had some of those kids in the lessons I teach now). Overtime, it began to feel less like a passion and more like an obligation; something I had committed to that was too late to stop. I was afraid to quit, afraid to disappoint, and trying to be dedicated to a sport I had lost interest in made me start to hate it. This year, I finally decided to drop the sport, and am now embracing the huge change it has had in my life.
I was never the fastest competitor on the team, never the one with the lofty goal of achieving an Olympic medal, or compete at the international level. I wasn’t a natural by any means, but I knew how to work hard, and when I put in the effort and I could get results. I was in the upper quarter of finishers and finalists, winning some events, losing others. I was happy, and had fun competing in the sport, reveling my recently discovered realization – as long as I continued to work hard and dedicate myself to the sport, I could do well.
I trained and …show more content…
School became a lot harder, especially because in the past I found it pretty easy to complete assignments and course work with only average effort and still be happy with my marks. I found I really needed to put time into studying for the first time. I became more stressed about academic success, and the social pressure in our grade skyrocketed to an all-time high. Meanwhile, I was expected to be at practice for a minimum of 1.5-2 hours a night, plus some weekends and a few mornings. I also enjoy being active throughout different areas of the school, in which my various commitments added up quickly, none of which I wanted to