26A Celebrating Failure


I am a competitive bowler in my spare time when I’m not freaking out about classes or bombarded with my work schedule. Recently I traveled to Chicago for a huge national tournament with some of the best bowlers in the country. This tournament was a huge undertaking financially and physically. The qualifying process for this tournament included 24 games over 4 days of bowling. I would bowl 6 games a day on one of four different lane conditions. This was a very stressful experience and one that will continue to make me a better bowler. However, after the 24 games, I did not make the cut for the quarterfinals of this tournament. I missed the cut by 5 pins. All I could do after I was the results was thinking about every missed shot I made and every easy mistake that happened over the four days. It was a tough drive home. I felt so bad about myself and how I performed. It took me about a week to even look at a bowling ball. This failure to get past the qualifying round of this major tournament took a major toll on me. However, if you were to ask me about this experience now, I would tell you this was more important than any of the wins I had gotten in tournaments here in Florida. This tournament was a true challenge for me and showed me that I still have a lot to work on to reach my ultimate goals as a bowler. I am back at it better than ever and am already planning my next trip to this national tournament that will take place in Las Vegas this coming year.

Comments

  1. Eric ENT3003April 15, 2019 at 10:59 PM

    Cameron,
    It sounds like you handled this failure well. You used it as motivation to become an even better bowler than you were. Many star athletes failed several times before they finally made or won a championship. Sometimes in order to get to where we want to go we have to try multiple times. It is not worth beating yourself up over, instead it should be a learning experience to come back the following year and do even better at the tournament.

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