Why there is always someone better in the world

There is a Chinese saying that there is always a person better than you at something. You can never be the best except for special cases. I have always known this from young, but actually I have not experienced this in the face. I never thought that the difference between us and others was that great.

Yesterday was a sad day. My school tennis team was in shatters. Well, at least the B division. The atmosphere was gloomy. Nobody talked only the coach. Disappointment was written on everyone’s face. It was unusually quiet especially from the B division tennis team. With heavy steps they walked up the stairs to receive a "motivational talk by the coach"

I always thought the B division tennis boys were excellent. They were amazing compared to us. They were fast, accurate, strong and everything better. They seemed very professional. They trained hard during practice and I always looked to them in admiration.

Then the rude awakening came. The school nationals came and the B division tennis team set out to the tennis court. Everything seemed normal during warming-up, as good as always. Then the other team arrived and the match commenced. Even though I know we may lose, never did I think that the difference in skill would be that great.

The opponent was fast. He was chasing down every ball that our school best player was hitting. Nothing was wrong in my school’s best player shots, they were powerful and accurate. However, the opponent returned with ease as though the ball was a feather. He returned with precise and deep ball into the court, which our school player was unable to hit. Strong and accurate hits were fired from the opponent’s racket like a rocket. I was blinded by its speed. I have not seen a faster ball in real life, except from television, but the ball appeared slower when filmed. Amazing tennis was played by the opponent. My school's best player just could not keep up. I knew he tried his best; the opponent was just too good. It was like trying to catch ghosts. The match ended in the thrashing defeat of my school, 9-1.My school player was only able to "steal" one miserable game from the opponent.

All the other opponents were of equal match of the first. They seemed undefeatable. It was almost unreal for just secondary school boys. At least, I thought so. Luckily our best double was able to win one match to make the overall score 4-1 and not lose 5-0 which saved some dignity for our school. Our best double faced the opponent school's weaker double and won by a small margin by two or one game. I was not sure of the score. I wondered if the other school put their second double down and not their preferred first choice double. Well, at least a win is a win. Still it was a thrashing defeat for our school, the team all hoped to make it to the semi-finals but now, their hopes were dashed. We were "creamed" by the other school. I, a supporter from the C division tennis team, was utterly disappointed.

As I think back on this defeat, I cannot help but wonder how somebody can be so much better than someone who I thought was already excellent. How can the difference in skill be so great? We are all secondary boys yet others can be so far ahead. How did they get so good at the game? Is it inborn skill? Or it is better coaches. I turn to my sister, a tennis player, for answers.

I actually learned that these people did not get so good because of inborn skill but actually hard work. Yes, they put blood and sweat into the game. They were hard-core. They trained like 6 times a week or more than 4 hours a day.4 hours for tennis can be fatal. The sun is blazing hot in the afternoon. The only day they get for free time is on Sunday. They have their own personal training too. They may go for their own training after their school's training session. Their training is so much tougher than ours. They seemed never tired during training. In fact, they are exhausted but they push themselves to overcome their exhaustion. It is their sheer determination and passion for the game that motivate them to push themselves to the limit. They want to be good at the game and so they put themselves through such a tough time for excellence. They actually want this because they want to excel. They get so many blisters on their feet but they still trained with all their heart into the game. Such determination is certainly admirable.

I learned that to excel in anything, we need to put in hard work. The road to success is only built with pure determination. Success is only achievable because of 99% of hard work and 1% of talent. The thing that makes the difference is actually the hard work people put in. Nobody is born good at something. You need passion and the tenacity to go through what others find too tough to endure. Hard work is paid off by the result. Many people are unable to take up the challenge to suffer in order to excel. They give up ,do not even try or do not try as hard as others as they fear of hardship. Only when someone has the determination to put in hard work with no fear of hardship, then that someone can rise above others.

I feel insignificant in this big world, but that does not mean that I will accept this fact and give up improving myself. Everyone needs to constantly improve oneself. I will put in hard work so that someday, I can be as good as others and excel in the game.

When you feel that someone is so much better than you, do not worry. You just need to put in hard work and with a little determination, you can be someone great too:)