continued from the last post…..

You may be thinking, "why would that help you get past the jealousy?" But watching her swim along side other super good swimmers and seeing her keep up but not placing in the top 5 in her heat, humbled me.

There is some famous quote that says something like, "every time I think I've found the answer and am the smartest, something always brings me back down to earth." This quote helps me a lot because it reminds me that even the girl on my swim team and even the new girl on yours will all be brought down to earth by something. Their lives are not as great as you think they are. And that's ok, because it is part of being human.

So be strong and continue working hard. You might reach your goal, or you might not. But it is the experience that counts. My college advisor says that it is not the list of things you've tried and succeeded that is important, it is the list of the things you've tried and failed that counts. And your list of things you've failed should be 3 times as long as the list for the things you've succeed.

So either way, if you try your best, be happy. ^^

I don't know if this will help, but I'll tell you my story.

I've been on a swim team since I was 4 years old. The was a girl on the team who was really good at swimming and made it seem effortless.

When I entered high school I joined the same competitive high school swimming team as her. I worked my off for the whole year swimming the 100 stroke and got pretty good. I eventually got so good that I was starting to drop a lot of time and was really proud of myself.

Then one meet I was sick and couldn't swim, so the coach put her in the 100 instead of me. And this girl who usually swam free and butterfly ended up beating my time by a lot.

It was really hard to accept that she was really good at stroke as well as all of the other . I felt worthless. Like why not let her just swim all of my races instead?

I swam harder and faster for the whole season, but I ended up injuring one of the vertebra in my spine the next year and had to lighten my practice routine. She, of course, kept getting faster. Suddenly it was like I wasn't even in the league as her any more.

Like you said, I got really jealous of her, but I didn't want to be. She is a really nice girl and she is really talented, so she is hard to be mad at.

I think what got me past the jealousy was when she, a few years later, when to the Olympic trials.

continued on the next post…...

I totally understand how you feel! I was always the smartest in class but now I at math tbh I'm afraid of what people would think because people always have higher expectations from me but what makes it worst is that its my best friends who are now ahead of me

I feel very annoyed by people like that too; people that seem to be so effortlessly good at something you try so hard at. I'm still looking for how to move past this myself, but I think the best idea I can come up with is to be happy for them, learn how to be happy with yourself, but also push yourself to try harder. Maybe, you won't be able to get 27's so soon, but set up small goals for yourself. Focus on healing and moving past your injury, and focus on a smaller goal like getting back to 29. Maybe ask to train with the other teammate? And maybe, you can explain to your teammates your situation and ask them to help train you? But I think you should try to remember your accomplishments, for what they're worth :) Maybe you feel that you aren't good now in comparison to your teammate, but we shouldn't compare ourselves to others. I know it sounds so cheesy, but really, we're all special in our own way. If we want to better our skills, we shouldn't do it in spite of someone else who we think has better skills that ourselves, but because we want to push ourselves to be as best we can :) But never think you're not good enough! Because you will only be comparing yourself to others once again. I like this quote, I think it fits here: "Flowers just bloom. They don’t compare themselves to other blossoms. They don’t want for more or less petals. They don’t wish they were another color. They don’t feel insecure if they open more quickly or slowly than another. They don’t feel guilty if they’re more symmetrical or tall than another bud. Flowers just bloom." I know, more cheesy stuff, but I hope you get my point :) Whether you're slower than you used to be or not, I bet you're still a great swimmer, you're just hitting some bumps in the road. Everyone does; artists, musicians, dancers, other athletes, writers, etc. You just have to find a way to get over the bump. Perhaps talking to your teammates or coach about how you're feeling might help?

Injuries do that to you..I used to be one of the sprinters and long jumpers, but then I injured my ankle during a competition, so my rank dropped. It will take a while to get back up to the top

Sujin-ah , don't mind them . Be grateful for what you had done for the past years . Maybe , you can't swim anymore but there will be another sports that you good at . Look at them as your challenger , but don't push yourself . If you wants the dream , catch it everyday . I'm sorry if my words kinda harsh and truthfully i don't know about sports . ^^ .

Don't push yourself too hard, it's not good for you. And it'll only make you feel worse if something goes wrong.
I'm sorry, that's all the advice I have for you.

oh i know that feelin.Well, i didnt join any sports or anything, but yeah there was a new girl, she had the same as me. Every time my friends call my name, I turn around, but they were calling forher instead. That's when I started being a loner. And that happened during.... 2nd grade??

I dont have any advices because no one ever gave me advices. So mian.

Dongsaeng-ah... just be u. some people r gifted with it naturally, but you, you worked for it, and when someone works for it, they can feel better about doing it, bcuz it's something they've fought for, and strived to accomplish... but she, it comes naturally, so she won't feel as much accomplishment when she does complete it. don't worry, arasso... you do great just the way u r ^^ *hugs*