Reflection from the Shores – Effort Always Works – by Simon Arenson

Hi, my name is Simon, but you know that. Starting at a younger age I realized that I was not the best athlete. While my friends went off to do travel sports, I sat on the sidelines of my rec team, wanting to just get my chance.

And Kawaga, if not my life, has taught me is, “You might not be the best at sports, but you can have the most effort.”

Every time I play sports I give the most work, sweat, and EFFORT into the match. Over my 13 years of age I learned that for every thing you do, you get back. Similar to Newton’s law, “For every action there is an equal reaction.” (Changed a bit.)

I think if you work/try things in life, and sports in particular, things will go great. One of my favorite quotes by Yoda (Star Wars) is, “There is no try. Just do.” I think this is so meaningful because if you put effort and try, great things will happen. Today is June 30. And today I’m on D basketball. It is my example of the word effort. Today was one of those days you were not feeling great, but had a good day. So for the zip it was blue/gold tribals for Mohawks; it was basketball.

As I expected, I was on D-Team. But instead of being upset, instead I thought, “Yes, more playing time.”  And throughout the game I did not make one basket, but instead of focusing on that, I had 15 rebounds and steals. And the most important thing to me is my effort, my team’s effort. In the last minutes of the game I was supporting, hyping up the team, and keeping us locked in. But with 1:17 left I rolled my ankle and someone accidentally stepped on my foot. But instead of going and focusing on my foot, I pushed hard and put so much effort into that last 1:17. This game shows me so much, how much it means to put effort. So the next time you’re the worst or last, just remember:

Effort always works.