A loss, hard fought, is often more valuable than victory. When you fight a battle, you are always looking to win the battle. When you lose a hard fought battle, you give it your all and try to win. You sweat, cry and bleed. But when everything is lost and seems hopeless, you may gain something else more valuable than a victory. In the end you gain more than you bargain for.
I have always enjoyed swimming. I go to the pool regularly and feel very free. I jump into the pool thinking that I'm better than everyone else in the pool. I feel like I'm the queen of the pool. But then another girl comes. I can sense the challenge between us; I fling down the gauntlet and we race. While swimming, I can feel the heat rising in my cheeks and the sweat coming out of my face underwater.
English: King Henry V at the Battle of Agincourt, ...
English: Dialects of the french language in the wo...
English: Close-up picture of billiard ballsI move my arms like a turbine trying to reach the end of the wall without stopping, but I realize that I can't make it so I just stop in the middle of the race and let the other girl beat me. Why did I lose? I realized it was because I didn't have much time to warm up or I wasn't ready to compete. She was. This race was a valuable lesson and more important that a victory. I learned that you must prepare properly before competing. It's a mistake I'll never make again.
Learning a language is hard, especially French. I take French at school and though I struggle through most of it, I feel in the end I have actually gained a lot. On many of the quizzes and tests that I take, I never seem to get a high grade so that I...