Think back to a time in your life when you tried something new.
When I was a teenager I volunteered to pass out water at a local race. I was so excited to see all the different runners who passed by and quickly took a cup of water. Some ran past, some walked past and a few wheeled past.
I saw so many types of people doing it. I thought maybe I could do it too! The next year I decided to run for the race, but I had little running practice. I just wanted to finish.
On the day of the race, it wasterriblyhot. After running for about 5 miles, I was thinking, "I must be crazy. Why did I do this？What was I thinking?" And at one moment, I said to myself, "I will never do this again!"
That first 10km race was quite an experience. I jogged (慢跑), I walked, and I jogged and walked. At times, I didn't know if I could finish.
Near the end, a 70yearold man ran past me, very fast, and I felt a little embarrassed (尴尬的) that I was more than 50 years younger than him and I couldn't even keep up with him. But then I realized something. He was running his race and I was running mine. How often in life do we compare ourselves to others when we really shouldn't？I decided that I would not give up, and that one day I would be one of those 70yearold men who were still running.
As I crossed the finishing line, I was proud of myself. I didn't regret (后悔) having such an experience.
