An Athlete's Story: Congratulate Yourself

Putting Yourself Down

by Atew Go Tian

Take one step forward.

See someone better, stronger, smarter.

Younger.

Take five steps backward.

See him improve twenty steps.

Take another ten steps backward.

Fight with all your heart.

It's not enough.

That is the story of my life. I have seen people do everything that I do better, getting all the praise while I was left to hide in the shadows. Now, I get up and try to follow these people. I will become the one that everyone adores and praises; I will be the one who surpasses everyone else.

This is society nowadays. We consider everyone else to be much better than us. We always find ways to put ourselves down because of someone better than us; we try to follow them and be them, to be the exact replica. The society is always running and pushing us to our limits, pushing us to be nothing but the best. Knowing that, by doing so, it will make us feel better. Once we surpass that person, however, once we think we've finally done it, we see somebody even greater.

We see that the person improves as if he can’t stop. We watch him all the time until we see all of their achievements, and it becomes a habit, instilling envy, slowly killing us on the inside. And we are left to know that we will never be satisfied, that we will never be good enough.

Now, after putting that one person better than you in the center of your life, keeping you going, wanting to be better, have you ever bothered to look at yourself? You may never know how far you have gone while trying to catch up to him until you look at yourself. The hours and days you've spent training and practicing to finally catch up to him, and doing it again after finding someone else have gone unnoticed.

Now look.

You are one step behind him,

but far, far away from where you once were.

You have improved.

But you have never congratulated yourself.

You were only looking at him,

With no time to look at yourself.

Look at yourself.

Congratulate yourself!

You have improved.