Perseverance

By Zhang Junpeng, Class 1, Junior One, Shunde No.1 Middle School Experimental School, Shunde District, Foshan, Guangdong

In life we always encounter many difficulties, and only by getting past them can we see the beautiful rainbow.

One mild and sunny afternoon, I was playing with several good friends; we had grown tired of many games. Suddenly Xiaogang said, "Let's skateboard!" Hearing this, I couldn't help drawing a sharp breath, thinking: I don't know how at all — will they laugh at me? Watching them each showing off on their skateboards — spinning in a circle one moment, dashing forward the next — it looked more and more appealing, so I made up my mind to learn to skateboard.

So I turned to my older brother to learn. At first he taught me a few basic moves, which looked as easy as turning over one's palm, but afterward I forgot everything; he patiently taught me once more and then went back to his homework. Following my brother's instructions, I began to practice, and slowly I got the feel of it. Just then my foot suddenly slipped — right in front of me stood a big tree, and my head slammed hard into it. In that instant I fell into darkness, as if a demon before me were saying: "Give up. You'll never learn it." Then a thread of light suddenly appeared, and a voice rang out: "Don't give up — failure is the mother of success." Those words seemed to awaken my soul. I stood up, lifted my spirits and started learning again — but after only a few moves I was already drenched in sweat.

Before long, though, my revived spirits were covered by a film of dust again; I lost patience and roared at the sky. I don't know how long passed before the gentle sun shone on my face. Looking up at that round sun, my heart suddenly filled with confidence, and my earlier fury vanished without a trace. I wiped the sweat from my body and went on learning. This time I was far more patient, without the earlier craving for quick success. First I put one foot on one side of the board and pushed gently forward; at once a feeling of lightness drifted through my body. Just then I placed my right foot on the other side and instantly lost my balance, but my body instinctively leaned back — and a miracle happened: with my body swaying back and forth, the skateboard rolled steadily forward. Then it bumped into something and stopped abruptly, and I toppled like a house without support, crashing down with a "bang". Though my bottom "blossomed" once more, I still kept on practicing.

At last, within a week, through sheer stubborn willpower I mastered the basic way of riding — but my heart was not yet satisfied; I wanted to learn the difficult moves.

Driven by intense curiosity, I set to work. Though I still kept falling just as before, I didn't mind, and little by little I learned many difficult moves. On Children's Day (June 1), a spin on my skateboard won me round after round of applause.

From then on, I tasted the joy of success and came to understand one truth: without weathering wind and rain, how can one see the rainbow? Whenever I think of this, my heart stirs with excitement.

(Supervising teacher: Yi Zhengbing)