“Sitting among the supporters, I watched how one of my favourite players walked towards the penalty area. He was the best they had saved for the grand ending. As the very confident supporters realized who was chosen for the final kick, they were confidently excited that their team was not going to take the fall.” Lee told his students, during one of his classes.
“On the other hand, the extremely emotional supporters feared the worst; they were scared of what could happen with this final kick. Team members and the coach were assured of a positive final kick–that’s why they chose him anyway–but, he remained the only one who knew the truth of the moment.” Lee walked to the front row and sat on one of the tables, facing his students, who seemed interested in his story.
“Perhaps, there was pressure from the perfect kicks made by the opposing team, or the thought of how a simple flaw in his kick could ruin his reputation as the best, or how everyone believed he could make the kick no matter what. Nobody actually knew the unveiled truth of the moment, only he did.” Lee shrugged.
“One thing was for sure though; it was the kick that could either make the team fall, or give them an elongated shot at victory.” Lee grimaced, as he clasped his hands, making dramatic gestures. “So as he stood before the ball, pressure rushed in from all four corners of the field, but he made the kick anyway.
Immediately there was a save by the keeper, the star player, probably, had only one wish–that he gets to make the kick one more time, even if it might not be recorded as a win, or perhaps, he just wanted the earth to swallow him up, because of the disappointment he might have caused many. There was a playback to be sure the keeper had done everything right.” Lee continued. “Personally, I think they just couldn’t believe that a star had lost to a kick so small.” Lee smirked, and the students giggled.
He immediately made a serious expression, getting the maximum attention of his students, and said, “It was there I realized there was really a price to pay for everything. For being gifted, the player had to go through the pressure of determining the fate of his team’s victory. For the save, the keeper has the price tag of “the new star keeper”. For making the choice they viewed as best, the coach and the team, have to go a long way to convince their star that he is the best they’ve got, despite the fact that the kick that lost them their victory was his.”
When the siren blared for closure, Lee let out a slight chuckle, and said, “In short,” then, his lips exhaled wise words, “Anything could happen at any time. We hardly ever know the outcome of situations. We can only assume based on intuition or several tests and hope for our expected outcomes. At the end, we just have to be sure we gave our best and did what was right, and were, however, prepared for life’s knock downs, because the truth is we are in an unfair world. In every case, there is a price we must pay. We all have penalties–whether as a chance, or a loss, we have a price to pay. Enjoy the rest of your day.”
