Peter kept his eyes on the ground. He felt like there was a heavy weight on his shoulders as he walked home alone. It was the worst day of his life. His mind would not stop thinking about what happened only just an hour ago on the school soccer field. How could he have missed scoring that goal? He had let his whole team down. His stupid mistake made him angry. His team had lost the game because of him. He was really worried that his coach might kick him off the team.
As soon as he walked through the door, his father asked, Whats wrong, son? Peters feelings were written all over his face. I lost the game, Peter replied. Then he went into his room without another word. Ten minutes later, Peter heard his father knocking on his bedroom door. He opened the door to let him in.
Look, Peter. I dont know what happened. But whatever it was, dont be too hard on yourself.
I lost the game, Dad. I failed my team. Theyll probably never let me play again.
Soccer is about team effort. Youre not the only reason your team lost. If you have a good team, you should support each other. Besides, winning or losing is only half the game. The other half is learning how to communicate with your teammates and learning from your mistakes.
Peter didnt say anything, but what his father said made him think carefully.
The next day, Peter went to soccer practice with courage rather than fear in his heart. Hey, guys, he said to his teammates. Im really sorry about yesterday. We were so close to winning that game. But I think if we continue to pull together, were going to win the next one.
To his surprise and relief, his teammates all nodded in agreement.
Yeah, they said, dont worry about it. Its never just one persons fault. We should think about how we can do better next time.
Peter smiled. It made him feel lucky to know that he was on a winning team.
胜利之队
彼得的眼睛盯着地面,当他一个人独自走在回家路上的时候,觉得双肩沉重。今天是他人生中最糟糕的日子。他脑海里总停不住想一个小时以前学校足球场上发生的事。他怎么错过了进球呢?他让全队都失望了。他愚蠢的错误使他生气。整个球队因为他而输掉了比赛。他还担心教练会把他赶出球队。
他一走进家门,他爸爸就问:“怎么了,儿子?”彼得的情绪都写在脸上。“我比赛输了。”彼得回答。然后,他不再说话走进了自己的卧室。十分钟后,彼得听见爸爸在敲卧室门,他打开房门让爸爸进来。
“彼得,你来看,我不知道发生了什么。但不管结果怎样,不要对自己太苛刻。”
“我输球了,爸爸,我导致了球队的失败。很可能他们再也不会让我踢球了。”“足球是靠团队的集体努力,”你不是导致球队失利的唯一原因。如果你们是一只优秀的球队,你们应该互相支持。此外,输赢只是比赛的一半。另一半是学会怎样和队友合作,怎么样从错误中吸取教训。”
彼得没说什么,但是爸爸的话使他陷入了沉思。
第二天,彼得并没有害怕,而是勇敢地去参加了足球训练。“嗨,伙伴们,”他对队友说:“我对昨天的失误非常抱歉,我们差点就赢了。但我想只要我们继续团结一致,我们就会赢得下一场比赛。”
出乎意料而又让他欣慰的是,他的队友都赞同地点了头。
“是的,”他们说:“别担心了,失败绝不是一个人的错误。我们应该考虑的是下一次我们怎么能做得更好。”
彼得笑了。他为自己属于一个奔向胜利的球队感到庆幸。
以上内容来自专辑