I stared at the board with fear in my eyes. I had seen many people fall in pain because of it. I was scared, not wanting to strike, but I knew that I must. It was at my old school for Taekwondo, punching dummies all on the side of the room, in the back, stretching boards where you could sit and let a machine stretch your legs apart. Then there was a mirror on the other side of the room. In the middle of the test, I had to break the wooden board. I feared that I might get hurt and not be able to walk. Being a young child, I did not understand much about breaking the board.
I was faced with a significant complication. I had to hit the board because then, otherwise, I would be ridiculed for not even trying. I kicked the board uneasily in a state of fear, not trying to go through, causing immense pain in my foot, as if stepping on a nail and applying pressure to it. At that moment, all I wanted was not to feel any pain; the feeling of calmness.
After the pain had subsided, they put me off to the side and told me to wait while they let countless other people go ahead. I thought of what to do as I waited, and when my turn finally came, the person holding the board said not to be afraid and to kick all the way through and overcome my fear. Once again, I looked at the board but no longer in fear, but with determination to break it. When I finally kicked the board, I did not hold back, but instead, I kicked all the way through, and to my surprise, the pain was not as bad. Right then and there, I learned that if I don’t take things all the way, I will fail, and to complete everything fully and persevere through every situation.
This was a crucial moment, and I knew this would affect me in my future life. I have carried this lesson then and today, never stopping early but going to the very end and persevering all the way. I felt more confident in myself and did not fear many things that I thought I could not accomplish, showing this through many parts of my life in tests and projects and even Boy Scout achievements.
I would be further behind in my life if it were not for that moment, forever changing my life for the better and has since had a significant impact on me. I would imagine that everyone in the world has had a moment in their life that was like my moment, changing their lives forever. If someone has not had that moment, then they have a long ride ahead of them.