Personal Narrative: A Personal Essay

Every time that I run my fingers along the raised stitches of a softball, I think back to the time I played softball. My fingers needed to be in an exact position on the stitches in order for me to throw the perfect pitch. It’s a chapter of my life that doesn’t bring back all happy memories. I spent six years of my life being a star, and I’ll admit it. I had extreme talent when it came to playing softball. It was like I was born for the game. Everything came so naturally to me. But I wasn’t born for that life.
Playing softball really took a toll at my self confidence. The coaches always wanted to win. It felt like you had to be perfect to make them happy. No mistakes. Their actions expressed many things. If I made a mistake, my coach would …show more content…
They should be thrilled for it to be their turn up to bat. They should be excited to give all their effort and beat the other team. I just wanted it all to be over. I decided to bring it to my family’s attention that I may not want to continue playing softball. Surprisingly, they understood my reasoning for my choice. My mom believed that I should do what I think will make me love myself. Her advice helped me make my decision and to think logically about it. It took me about six months to feel pleased with my decision, but I decided that I would no longer play softball. I had no idea if this would last a season or if it would last forever. However, it was extremely hard to explain this choice to people other than my immediate family. My extended family, teammates, coaches, and friends only saw my talent, and didn’t understand why I would want to throw that away. But what they didn’t see was the freedom I felt after I quit softball. I no longer had this burden on me. I could do anything and become anything that I wanted. So many new options were revealed for my future.
But I didn’t see all of the consequences coming with this decision. Now that I no longer played a sport, my friends no longer accepted me as their best friend. All of a sudden I was last choice. I wasn’t being invited to their birthday parties. I would feel their whispers behind me, constantly leaving me out of everything they did. It took me awhile to realize this, but eventually I learned that they weren’t my true friends. This realization really hurt, but little did I know that this change would open up so many new, life changing