运动，运动！Playing Sports

你是否有过类似经历：自己身边的同学朋友在才艺展示的时候都能大显身手，琴棋书画信手拈来，运动场上也各显其能，各个英姿飒爽；而你却从头到尾负责鼓掌，混个最佳观众奖。想想自己从前是不是也培养了好多兴趣爱好，但都浅尝辄止了呢？那就读读下面这篇文章吧，一个华裔的美国女孩用自己的亲身经历告诉你，选择一条路并坚持走下去你将看到什么样的风景；而半途而废你又将会有怎样的心境？

All through my childhood, I was very good at sports. My dad and I used to play soccer with an inflatable Barbie beach ball in the basement, using pillars as goal marks. I was that girl who used to tear down the field with the ball, screaming at all of those who were just standing around. I remember going to soccer camp with my good friend Victoria, who was skinny and much more feminine than I was, and later tattling on her for not moving around as much as I thought she should. In elementary school, I was on the swim team. I was the fastest at breaststroke, and would have gotten first place had my competitor’s mother not messed me up (I still resent her till this day). The only thing that stopped me from completely dominating was my fear of diving. I could not and would not dive into the water. I dreaded going to swim practice because of those few minutes at the end when we would have to dive. If I was forced to get up on the diving stand, I would cannonball in the water. Most times, I would still beat the other girls. But the coaches always pointed out how much more I could win by if I only just dived in. I was ecstatic when we moved away from China and I was allowed to quit the swim team.

When we moved to America, my school didn’t have a swim team. Basketball, volleyball, and track were pretty much my only options available. I had been known as a fast runner when I was younger – in fifth grade, my nickname was Speed due to the fact that I always beat the other girls in “race ya to the fence” competitions – and I went out for track. I made the track team and was fast enough to be selected for the 200m x 4 relay. I was excited and proud that I was able to compete with a bunch of tall, long-legged American girls and make the spot . Unfortunately, because I had piano lessons every Monday and had to miss practice once a week, I was unable to defend my spot in the relay and some other girl took it. Track slowly floated away from me as I continued to miss practice to attend my piano lessons.

Gradually, the image of “sportswoman” no longer resembled me. I was that Asian girl who was smart and sometimes funny, but never athletic. I began to dread gym class, even though it had been one of my favorite classes when I was younger. I hated team sports. As I grew older, I even started making jokes about how horrible I was at sports. It was my sad reality. In ninth grade, I tried to rekindle my love of soccer by trying out for the team. I made the junior varsity team, but felt uncomfortable and unhappy the entire time. The other girls, who were a year above me, were all considered to be the “mean” girls of our school, and rarely interacted with me. Even though I was the worst one on the team, the coach continually started me and rarely benched me, which, would have been a prize to most players, but was a punishment for me. Eventually, an injury allowed me to quit the team. I didn’t admit it to anyone, but I was secretly elated that I no longer had to stay after school until 6pm with girls who ignored me and spend my Saturdays on a field, running drills and trying to avoid being yelled at by my coach while on the field. To this day, I’m still not quite sure why he insisted on putting me in the center of the field every single time. Maybe I wasn’t as bad as I thought – or maybe he saw something in me that I didn’t.

When I stopped playing sports, I started gaining weight. On top of that, I had stopped growing taller as well. My body was short and stout and I hated it. Because I was so horrible at sports, I had no real way to keep fit. The summer before my senior year of high school, after a fit of tears and anger, I decided to start running again. Not sprinting or short-distance running like I had done on the track team, but real running. That summer, I lost about twenty pounds and I felt great. Since then, I’ve gained some weight back (thanks to college), but at least I have a way out .

But this story isn’t about my weight-loss transformation. It’s about the importance of playing sports. Even though I don’t play sports anymore, I still watch them on television. I love the NBA. I love watching basketball and seeing these men jump dizzyingly high heights to gracefully sink the ball into the tiny basket. Watching them makes me want to play, but I know I can’t.

Play a sport and stick with it, no matter how bad you think you are. Sticking with something even if you don’t think you’re very good at it is just a lesson of endurance that comes with learning a sport. I never kept up that endurance. I let small things, like mean girls and diving boards, get in my way of achieving great potential that everyone knew I had. I sometimes look at my classmates resentfully, the ones who walk around in their sports jackets and sweatpants and talk about how annoying their coaches are, and wonder what it would have been like to be in their position. Strong, built , and confident. There isn’t anything in the world like being good at a sport. I remember that feeling of racing down the field with the ball rolling precariously in between my feet, trying to kick it into the giant net behind the goalie. I’ve never quite been able to replicate that feeling of pure bliss and focus and adrenaline.

My brother has recently become excellent at tennis, and while I’m so proud to see him on the court, slamming those balls over the net, I also wish that I could be there playing with him. He’s no longer an amateur, like I will always be. So take it from someone who has lamented a life decision – whatever it is you’re doing, if it’s worthwhile, stick with it. You won’t regret it.

词汇:

Inflatable: 可充气的，可膨胀的。

我还记得和维多利亚一起去过足球夏令营，她又瘦又文静，后来我还和别人抱怨她在球场上太不活跃了。feminine: 女性的，娇柔的，女子气的；tattle on: 背后谈论他人隐私或泄露他人秘密，在闲谈中说出，背后讲别人坏话。

breaststroke: 蛙泳；mess up: 给某人添乱，捣乱，把某事弄糟。

dread: 害怕，畏惧。

cannonball: 抱膝跳水。

ecstatic: 欣喜若狂的。

在我还不大的时候，那时候我五年级，跑得出了名的快，伙伴们都叫我“速必得”，因为当时和她们赛跑没人赢得了我，我也因此参加了田径队选拔。go out for: 努力争取，（运动员）参加选拔赛。

make the spot: 轻而易举地战胜某人。

rekindle:重新燃起，重新激发。

虽然我是队里最差的选手，教练还是一路提携我，很少让我坐冷板凳，这种待遇大多数队员求之不得，我却唯恐避之不及。

elated: 得意洋洋的，兴高采烈的。

这可把我高兴坏了，但我对谁都没说，我终于不用每天放学后还要和那些孤立我的女孩子们一起在学校呆到六点，也不用每个星期六在场上一边挥汗如雨一边被教练大呼小叫。elated: 兴高采烈的，得意洋洋的。

on top of: 除……之外（还）。

stout: 略胖的，粗壮的。

way out: 解决办法，出路。

dizzyingly: 使人头晕地，使人糊涂地。

stick with: 坚持，继续做。

endurance: 耐力，忍耐力。

get in my way of: 阻碍我（做某事）

resentfully: 厌恶地，愤恨地；sweatpants: 运动裤。

built: 〈美俚〉体形好的，体态性感的。

precariously:不牢靠地，不稳定地，不确定地；goalie: 守门员。

replicate: 重现，重复；adrenaline: 肾上腺素。

听听我这个后悔莫及的过来人的建议吧——无论做什么，只要值得就一定坚持到底。lament: 悔恨，痛惜，哀叹。