It all started on a bright, sunny morning as I was getting ready for my basketball game. I was about eight years old and thought I was a professional basketball player. This particular day I was not in a good mood. Everything anyone did annoyed me. Even the jelly toast I was eating for breakfast found a way to get on my nerves. 

Zooming in the car with my parents on my way to the gym, my mother reminded me, “Audrey, remember to play hard!” 

My father tag teamed my mother and exclaimed, “Remember, always have a good attitude and get after it!” 

This annoyed me. I thought I always worked hard and I had to prove them wrong. When we arrived at the gym, I proceeded to warm up. I stretched my legs and arms, preparing myself for my long fight against the other team. Finally, it wast game time! I was working hard and playing my best, when a girl on the other team started to get on my nerves. She thought she was so good and I, of course, thought she wasn’t. She slowly kept irritating me more and more.

I thought to myself, “Who does she think she is? Lebron James!?” Right after this thought passed through my mind, she stole the ball from me and scored a lay-in. My coach took me out immediately. This made me irate. I had enough! Now I would make a was dribbling up the court with the ball I would tackle her while going for the ball. This plan was genius! It was

fail proof! After sitting out for a few minutes, my coach put me back in and the plan was set. The girl I despised was dribbling up the court. I sprinted for her as fast as I could and jumped for the ball. I fell and took her down with me. In the process her mouth hit my head and in a flash, blood was everywhere. My head hurt from impact. I could only imagine how she felt. What had happened? The girl was crying loudly, mumbling something about missing her tooth, but no one could find it anywhere! Rubbing my head I felt a sharp object scratch my hand. What was that? I started to dig around in my hair to grab the pokey object. I was finally able to locate the tiny culprit that was lodged in my hair.
When I saw it I explained, “I found your tooth!”

I sprinted over to the girl. Being the very proud and fearless eight year old I was, I gently presented her with her missing tooth. I almost felt like a hero for finding her tooth. This stroked my ego even more! For the rest of the game I played clean and not dirty. From this experience I learned that bringing my anger and frustration out on other people is not the right thing to do. It can cause others to get hurt and I did not want to hurt anyone else. I also learned that there is a difference between working hard and just playing dirty.