Team Picture of
Cupid Gate's Archery *The team name*
Heres the Website for Cupid Gate's Archery:
Cupid Gate's Archery
I'm on the far right sitting, the one next to the orange bow.
I first started Archery back in July of 2011. Took my first three sessions with utter nervousness then decided to continue on from there. It's now January 2012 and of course I'm still shooting.
I've never been much of an athlete. P.E. was just embarrassing for me back in middle school, but looking back now I think my entire middle-school self was simply embarrassing. I remember once my class was playing kickball and as I ran up to kick the ball, apparently I had thrusted my leg with so much strength forward that the wight of my leg lifted me up and I ended up falling smack on my butt. Embarssing. yeah.
This might be why I never respected playing or the subject of sports in general. I did play basketball with my three male cousins while growing up, so i'm quite fond of basketball (although i'm a horrible basketball player.) I also spent a year as a swimming member of my apparent high-school rival's swimming team but quit because #1. I was mainly swimming to build up my high-school application and #2. It just wasn't fun.
I then had a two year hiatus from sports. Actually, during Sophmore year I tried training myself in Tennis, but utterly failed. *I really do like Tennis though.* Then junior year of high-school came. One day, inspired by the anime show
Inuyasha, I decided it would be nifty to take up archery. I googled 'Archery in San Francisco' and Cupid's Gate Archery came up. Took up the first three sessions and soon found that I loved it. Makes me realize that you really can't judge something based on first impressions; You must have experience in order to judge.
I realized that the love for a sport really does bring about bonds. I am an introvert. I have never ever respected the "power of friendship" mainly because I've never experienced it. I've always thought that friendship was a liability. Friends only cause you harm; they are fetters that chain ones true potential. But, now that i'm on a team, my view seems to have changed.
Honestly, I don't consider any of my team members to be my "friends". They are mere acquaintances; one level above the classmates I associate at school but not as close to me as my best friend is. But now, I
do understand the benefits of a team. Team members, they give you advice, they buy you hot chocolate, when you buy them hot chocolate they offer to pay you back for the chocolate. They critique you to your benefit, they offer to drive you to tournaments, they console you if you feel nervous, anxious, or fail.
But
as much as one can love a member, there is no doubt that as members of one team, each and every member secretly, truly wants the other member to fail. To do worse than you, the individual. It's human nature. But still, even when the bittersweet moment comes, when your team member exceeds and you don't, you are still very happy for them. Maybe it's because that the fact that they're exceeding means it's an honor for you to be in a team that includes this superior member, or maybe it's because then you can gain advice from this superb athlete. And this bittersweet feeling is proof that humans are naturally good. The true happiness is our essential good. The jealousy we feel is our inherited bad. At least this is what I believe.
This bittersweet moment came about today. As in my archery session, two of my members ( both sisters one age 13 and the other age 11 *they're in the photo above*), had both accomplished something great today, leaving me with a sense of pathethicness. haha.
The 13 year old obtained her 50 meter pin, a blue pin earned if you shoot a score of 240 or more from 50 meters. She scored 261 (the first female in the team to obtain that pin), tying with the score of the best member of the team, another 13 year old *also shown in the picture above*. The other sister, the 11 year old, managed to shoot 70 meters and shot very well from that distance. She's in fact the first female in the team to shoot that far of a range. Then there was me, shooting at 50 meters and not shooting nearly as well as the sisters. I felt pathetic.
I realized though, and this may be a horrid attempt to assuage my pitiful shooting and self-worth, that everyone is a character. And with a character comes with his or her own uniqueness. Everyone has their pro's and con's. I may not be as a terrific archer as the sisters, and I truly don't mean to be a braggart or rude, but from what I know I simply more knowledgable academically, probably because I'm older. The 11 year old sister has the best form. The 13 year old sister is better at art, reading, and writing. My point is: The quality of a person can't be judged based on a comparison of one attribute.
Don't make one person feel worthless if you compare his or her ability to do something to another's. Consider his or her qualities that he or she excels in, qualities that you might not be aware that they have.
"If you judge a fish by it's ability to climb a tree, it will grow up thinking that its forever stupid."
