Learn to Compete, It is Urgent!

archery1By Alifia Afflatus, 13, homeschooler from Indonesia

On the 18th of November 2015, I was in a sport game in my town. I did archery, so yeah… it was archery that I played. Honestly I have been playing with a bow and arrows since months ago, but I had been practicing effectively for merely two months. No wonder, the mentioned competition was the first championship I was in. And it turned into a worthwhile experience.

archery2bPerhaps not all of you find archery appealing. But the main thing I would like to convey is not about archery. It is all about the lessons I obtained from the archery competition.

This was the first time I was in an archery tournament – I initially scrutinized the surroundings and circumstances I met at the range. I’ve never been in a sport game before. The competitions I played in were usually school-lessons and art. It made me somewhat doubtful. But my previous competing experiences avoided me being really nervous. That is, I stayed serene until the competition was started.

We were allowed to stand upon the shooting line after two-times the whistle sounded. And after the second whistle sound, we’re allowed to shoot.

Watching over other friends who had some good shots, suddenly I became a bit ambitious. Unconsciously, I ignored my clothes arm which was annoying the motion and drag of the bowstring so on two sessions my arrows missed – all of them missed.

Of course this was the first lesson. I needed to notice and prepare all of my equipment well, including my clothings, were they comfortable or not. I also needed to be more calm, less ambitious but keep aiming focusedly. And the last was, it was urgent to notice the wind blow.

archery3On the third session one or two of my arrows missed, but the rest punctured the target. Great, I was relieved. It was the same on the fourth session but on the fifth, I got ¾ of my arrows inside the yellow spots. One got into nine, one into ten, and the last was on X-spot.

It was not easy to maintain the shots. Besides the wind blowing rapidly and long, I began being too confident if my arrows would be in the X-spot again. Additionally, my mentality was transformed abruptly so when the wind was moving too long, I was concerned if the time was up before I shot all of my arrows.

Here were the last lessons I got. That archery was not about ambition and rushing up. What I needed to learn more was to be confident but calm, hardworking but not pretentious, keeping myself focused and KEEP PRAYING.
archery4

In fact, the crucial elements to master archery are not just technique; there are also calmness, equanimity, and focusness to aim at the right spot.

For the individual category, I did not become a champion but it was me placing in the fourth rank of all the athletes in the competition so that my score was close to the third winner. But at least for the team category, me and by squad acquired the golden medal for being the first champion. Not bad for the first time of competition.

So here is my story about the first archery competition. I hope the lessons I learned can be beneficial to you, too, and you might be able to apply these to the other competitions and daily life. Good luck competing because you guys are winners!

About the Author: “I’m a 13-year-old homeschooler (9th grader), been homeschooled for 2 years, from Semarang, Indonesia. I’m a blogger at www.hs-po.blogspot.com and a monthly contributor on the homeschool site www.aprinesia.com. I enjoy writing about homeschool and home education, children, teen, history, nature, politics, religion, social and travel.”

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