Journal #20

“I learned that courage is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.”

                                                                        ---Nelson Mandela
Everybody fears something. Whether that be the unavoidable death of themselves or merely a fear of spiders. Those who are able to overcome those fears are brave men, and courage is not created with the absence of their fear. Essentially, in order to have courage, one needs something to have courage for. Thus, Nelson argues that in order to triumph, one must fear and be able to get through it.
I've always feared sports. Whether it was basketball, track, running, or anything else athletic, I covered my head in shame and wanted nothing to do with it. I hated sports but it seemed like everybody was doing it, and I wanted to be a part of that. I wanted to try something new, to just get it over with. Finally, i decided to try basketball, a sport i had only seen in movies and tv. Immediately, I was scared. I was nervous the first day of tryouts because there were so many girls better than me and I was embarrassed. I wanted to crawl in the corner every time i messed up. I didn't give up tho, I kept showing up to practices and started to get the hang of it. I began to love basketball and I started making new friends and loving the people I played with. The moments when I shot a ball and made it, that fear of basketball never once crossed my mind (hahaha puns) I played the game and wasn't afraid to knock someone down. My courage for wanting to play was only held back because I thought I was scared of the game, but in reality, the game was scared of me.