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Priti, a teenage girl who loved badminton. She practiced the sport everyday with her father, Arit, consistently improving her skill. Soon enough there was a badminton competition being hosted in town. The girl’s father encouraged her to participate, but she had been so afraid of embarrassment and losing that in the end, Priti decided not to take part in the contest.
At a weak attempt to motivate her, Priti’s father attempted to speak with her. To no avail, Priti would simply ignore him.
Defeated, her father sat on the sofa. His limbs were tense, completely lost in thought. He hadn’t realized his son came home, and only noticed when Adhrit snapped him back to reality. “Dad, what’s the matter?” His tone was worried.
With a sigh Arit replied, “I want Priti to participate in the badminton competition. She has great skill, and doesn’t realize it.”
Adhrit tapped his chin for a moment, “I'll see what I can do, try to encourage her and get her to participate.” He turned to go to her room, “But We shouldn’t try to force her. There’s always next year.”
Arit nodded his head in agreement.
Opening the door to her room with a soft knock, Adhrit waved his hand. “Hey.” Priti didn’t budge, brushing her brother aside just as she did with her father. After a minute, Adhrit spoke up. “Priti, I heard you’re not taking part in the competition, why? You could definitely win it!”
“Because I know I can’t win! There will be people who play badminton better than me.” The girl finally admitted, blinking back the tears that threatened to fall.
Her brother sighed, “You know, I play cricket.”
“So?” Priti crossed her arms.
“So. . Once there was a competition, and my friends told me to take part in it. They supported me. But I didn’t want to because I was afraid that I couldn’t win.” Adhrit paused, “But after some persuasion I sort of realized that I should trust my abilities, and that I was totally capable of so much more than I told myself. In the end, I participated and won.”
Listening to this, Priti got motivated and decided to sign up for the competition. She practiced harder everyday, determined to be the best. To max out her skills. And when the day of the competition came, Priti showed off all her hard work on the field.
With her whole family cheering her on in the stands, Priti took home the victory, and told herself that she should believe in herself. Make decisions on her own, and trust herself.
