Just Another High School Story!

Leah walked onto the court, on the side, everyone was sitting there to watch the game, they were supposed to give it their all, as if it was a real competition, no mistakes allowed, long rallies were to be made, and exiting smashes to be snuck in. The teams were distributed fairly by a small game of passing the ball to opponents, you'd name the opponent, and pass the ball to them, standing in a circle as a team, whoever missed the shot that was theirs to take, as per their name having been taken, were supposed to shuffle into two teams, alternatively, throughout the whole back and forth passing, Leah and Ethan didn't call each others name, and in the end were the only survivors, they were the only ones left at the end. With the ball in her hand, she shook hands with him, "As expected, the captains are still alive!"

Despite the fact she'd been sick, and had taken a really long break from her team, she hadn't stopped keeping in touch, watching games, learning new techniques, she didn't jump around too much, but she practiced control, and precision, tipping the net, things like that. She was looking after her health, and teaching middle schoolers techniques. She loved helping the kids, she had witnessed a shy girl in the middle school team, her name was Clarissa, beautiful, or at least Leah thought so, and super cute, but she was a little chubby. She used to sneak treats during practice, Leah caught her once, and asked, "Why don't you eat out in the open?" Her reply didn't just break her heart, it killed her, she said, "Because other kids make fun of me for being chubby, my sister said she's embarrassed of me, and told me to lose weight, but I feel hungry, she doesn't let me have too much food, and tells me to run to school, she's supposed to give me rides to school; I hate running so much in the morning, but she says that because her friends are cool, she doesn't want to be embarrassed of me, I'm not allowed to drag her down, it's really hard to eat in front of all her glares, so I sneak food during VB practice, she doesn't let me eat much otherwise, it's hell!" The girl wasn't sad while saying this, she didn't seem to hate her sister in the least, she wanted to make sure that they didn't fight because of her food frenzy, therefore, she hid her own feelings and snuck things to eat from the fridge.

Leah was surprised, she saw herself in Clarissa and wondered how many girls, or for that matter people, were being oppressed by the pressure of being a certain way, either by families, friends, peers, classmates, colleagues, or even themselves. It wasn't just related to food, it could be identities, sexual preferences, the way of someone's dressing etc.

Her story had been helping people, she had written all about her struggles, started a blog where she had left recovery tips, so that things she had to go through, if by some mercy of heaven, someone could avoid, some people could take the shortcut, of course, the suffering she could not lessen for others, but helping this way, by comforting, being there in a way, seemed more than good enough, she had wasted so much time, she had realised finally why her workouts weren't working out earlier, other than the fact that she did not really enjoy what she was doing, she was also mindlessly, doing the same workouts, the same videos, she realised that you had to switch it up, if you did the same exercises everyday, they do become easy but you stop growing after the pain stops, "No pain, no gain", the saying isn't a joke, someone thoughtful, someone in pain like her had come to this epiphany while they were struggling, similarly, everyone has their own struggle story, if her services could make things even a percent better for everyone, she was ready to do her best to serve.

She was ready to help others after finally helping herself, that's a way to make the world a better place, there is this way to be selfishly selfless, I know that sounds completely absurd, but people usually think that if you look at yourself for even a second you're not selfless, but altruism isn't selflessness, blindly putting others before yourself is not a favour you're doing to the world, actually and realistically speaking, you are a part of the human capital the world so dotes on, if you are not taking care of yourself, you're basically disappointing the Universe, heavens and whatever divine being you believe in that exists. Be selfish, if you want to be selfless. By being down all the time, you bring the energy of those around you down too, make them feel unwelcome, slowly the world doesn't shut you out, you do not realise it but you shut the world out, trap yourself in a room with no lights, no windows, no doors, we create our own prisons, like Stevie Wonder said, "Everyone has their own capabilities, some use them, while some don't." You might feel like you're not good enough but as long as you are doing your best, living to do the thing you love to do, or at least trying to love the thing you do do, you're making an effort, that is already more than most want to do, you are good enough, keep walking on the path to finding yourself, you receive an answer so spontaneously, that when you are rewarded for what you have achieved, you have grown and learnt so much, that the destiny doesn't matter, whether you win or not, the results don't matter, you learn through the race, through the process that most choose to ignore, the fact is that results are given because of the fact that you persevered through. Life is like a bubble, too fragile, you can't waste your time looking at other people, being envious, the thing they love to do might not interest you so much, because you are a unique person, you have different interests, different neurons, sure, comparison is healthy, but only with yourself, the past you, the you who lived yesterday, and the you living today, which one is better? That is the only question you need to ask at the end of the day, and if you've done well then good job, if not then you need to remember that you have to answer yourself the next day. Just like a bubble, life is a perfect sphere, coming full circle, complete in itself, supplying infinite happiness, giving relief, and the strength to grieve, life if beautiful, you only need to find purpose!