He was, in fact, very popular around the school, and everybody knew him for being the best at athletics. I hated him because he had such great confidence in his abilities that his aura seemed to indicate that he was destined to become the best among the rest. All the girls fawned over him. Countless guys wanted to be like him. To them, being him means you are their kind of person. His name is albegeny, and I always wish I was him. But deep in my heart, I would rather not admit it. I would say he was the one I loved to hate, but hated to love.
There was nothing more that I yearn for than to get one over him. I had the desire to outshine him. I was trying to make everyone idolize me and not him. He was renowned for being an excellent runner on the field; he held an unbeaten record. What I really wanted was an opportunity to embarrass him at something he was better at than me because I was a good runner but not as good as him. Even though he was better than me, I couldn’t resist the opportunity to get one over him.
Finally, my wish was fulfilled. I was one of seven athletes who were chosen to compete in a yearly 100-meter track and field event. To my surprise, albegeny, the current champion, was also selected. I was glad to be a part of the race, for it gave me the opportunity to prove to the school that I was a better runner than he was. He was unaware that I was competing against him out of jealousy. He was determined to retain the current title, for his heart was set on business as usual.
The day of the event arrived, and the crowd was cheering for us. I had my side-eyes on albegeny, trying to figure out his pre-game ritual along with his weakness. He was so calm and composed that I decided to emulate his behaviour. For the day, his personality became mine because I had forgotten who I was and began to copy everything he did.
The race was about to start, and we were positioned. I was so nervous that I felt my adrenaline rushing through my veins. I was so focused on beating albegeny in the race that I forgot that there were five other runners.
The starting pistol went off and the race began. During the race, I found myself ahead of albegeny. I realized that he was not at his best, and this made me feel like I could create some space between us. I was astonished to find that the great albegeny was behind me, and I was ahead of him. Furthermore, I was nearing the finish line and my heart was filled with joy even though I was tired.
The race was finally over, and we came to a complete stop. I had overcome the reigning champion, albegeny. I was so thrilled that I jumped for joy. Something caught my attention immediately. I realized that the whole crowd was celebrating the 1st and 2nd place winners, and I was the only one who was cheering for myself. When I looked ahead of me, I saw a person who appeared to be the winner of the competition. Then I looked behind me and saw a disappointed albegeny, who came in sixth. He was sorely disappointed not because he lost to me, but because he had lost his title as the reigning champion. No one applauded me or albegeny at the end of the race.
Then I started to think that I could have been more popular than albegeny if I had tried to win first place. Albegeny never posed a threat to my becoming popular. The only danger was my ego, which was more focused on an individual than the ultimate prize of success that was open to everyone on the track. Now imagine how that made me look, like Dumbo.
Moral of the story
When I was supposed to be focusing on achieving my life goals, I was instead trying to outdo my friend, who I believed to be more successful than me. The lesson of the story is that you should be motivated to succeed because it is your long-term goal, not because you want to compete with someone.
Makewetalknow 