“My nimble mind was drained”

It was third and long from our twenty yard line. The ball was snapped and I made my quick move. I attempted to block the linebacker when my world came crashing down.  Boom! Crackle! Pop! I went tumbling down on the patch of dirt like a ball rolling down a hill. The field was filled with patches of dirt like this one. As soon as I had fallen and grabbed my ankle, my mind flashed with negative thoughts like, “Is this a serious injury? Another thought that plagued my mind was “Could this be a career ending injury?” The negativity was a main factor to why I overreacted. Then there was an excruciating pain in my ankle. I let out an ear screeching cry like a werewolf on a night on a full moon. The trainer lugged his first aid kit all the way to my position of the field. The trainer came rushing in and I told him it was my ankle.   The trainer yanked my navy blue and white high top cleats off my feet.  The smell of my sweat permeated my cleats. I was forced to hobble off the bare field. I was all the way next to the other team’s side. I was nearly 45 yards away from the bench. I could not think of how long the trip would be. As soon as I stood up the pressure became unbearable. The field seemed to have gotten longer. Instead of it being 47 yards away it now seemed like a mile. The farther I limped the more the grass looked nimble and thin. The walk from the field felt like an eternity. The walk felt so long I felt as if I had grown a beard. I had finally reached the end of the field and made my way to the bench. I couldn’t bare sitting on the bench. I was frustrated, but I was frustrated towards the wrong people. I was yelling at everyone that came in my path. I began to yell at my teammates. I took my frustration out on them, but it wasn’t there fault.  I exclaimed “ Leave me alone!” to all my teammates and they all did.I needed time to think, but the negativity rushed to my mind.  My mind wasn’t thinking straight, but nobody understood that. My expression showed anger, but I wasn’t angry I was filled with frustration.  

I thought to myself “ Why must my life be so bad?” That question pondered my mind. As soon as I touched the bench I went off like a bomb. My face flushed with warmth and it was as red as a tomato. I was so frustrated that it made me angry. I couldn’t control my anger. People were trying to calm me down, but I was erupting like a volcano. The people around me said “ Calm down and breathe everything is gonna be okay.” All I really wanted to do was go back into the game and secure the win.  I pleaded to go back into the game, but my coach told me to sit back down and relax. I was mentally defeated. My nimble mind was drained from all the frustration I just endured.I didn’t want to show my defeat, so I continued to keep my tantrum going.  My state of mind seemed to not have known how to act. I have never acted so immature before. Throwing tantrums were for toddlers, but there I was throwing one at the age of 12.  At halftime my coach pulled me aside and calmed me down. He explained to me in a calm matter that “ I didn’t want you to outwork yourself and get hurt again.” As soon as the words soaked in my mind I had felt so ashamed. I felt like I had let my team down for the way I had acted. I thought to myself “ I shouldn’t have let the situation get to me” All I had wanted to do was go back into the game and win it, but instead I had acted so immaturely that it only prevented me from entering the game again. I only had thought about me.  I never put myself in my teammates place. Taking me out of the game was the best for the team. I was hurt and I wasn’t helping the team by not being able to function right. This all could have been prevented if I would’ve been a reasonable child. If I had realized that my life wasn’t over I think that I wouldn’t have acted that way. That little moment shaped my mind into the mind that I am now.   This experience taught me to be careful with how you react to a situation. If the situation is a small situation there is no point in stressing over it because life continues moving forward.