My parents always wanted me to be "on top", so from early on I had the goal to be the best in everything from getting the highest score in a spelling test to running fastest in a race. In middle school, I 1 how many other smarter and faster people there were. It became obvious that I was not the best any more, but my parents still held on to their hope and forced me to try hared. To their 2 , I became less confident and didn't want to work harder because, to me, there was no point in making any more efforts 3 I was unable to be number one. My grades began to fail; I 4 practiced the piano; I stopped painting. It was all because my motivation (动力)to do anything had dropped much.
When high school started, I was at a new school in a new city. I decided to get back my motivation and start over. So I 5 my favorite hobby again and enroll(报名)myself in the art course. Luckily，our art teacher, Mr. Grady, gave us more freedom with our art projects. He would always encourage us to realize our potential(潜力). My first painting was simply a bee sitting on a sunflower, I tried my best, but still found it 6 to feel satisfied with it. I knew it was not perfect and could hardly get a good grade. However, when I showed it to Mr. Grady, he didn't grade it in a rush. Instead, he gave me advice which only motivated me to work harder on it. For the first time I was encouraged to focus on the 7 rather than disappointed about its imperfection. I finished all the other projects with higher grades, but I hung the first painting in my room at the end of the term.
My parents thought pushing me to be number one would motivate me.8, it discouraged me much when I was not number one. Actually, it is okay not to be the best at everything as long as you continue to try your best.
