Mile Run

The boy woke up very anxious today. In fact he woke up before 6am. He came down quietly and made his breakfast. He was nervous and couldn't sleep any longer. On the way to school he doubted himself, saying he wasn't going to do well, everyone was going to tease him.

You see today was the mile run. Every year the students in our school run a timed mile. And for most kids, it's just another day. For most it's just a thing they have to do whether they like it or not. But for the boy it's a big day. It's a calendar day. Because for the last couple of years the boy has finished first in his class and in the top five in his grade. They all know he's fast. He's the one to beat and he knows it. That's a lot of pressure for a nine year old.

I let him talk through his self doubt and just said do your best. He got out of the car a ball of nervous energy. I met him out on the track a little later and watched as all of that nervous energy propelled him like a rocket. He started lapping some of the other kids, once, twice. The hope of beating him propelled some of the other kids to speed up as their classmates yelled "he's behind you. he's coming. man, he passed you". He finished first, with a smile. He took his victory popsicle and sat down in the middle of his friends, content with his performance. I smiled deep as I watched him relax into confidence. The pressure was gone, at least until next year.