so here we go from uncle Jake when I was a kid there was a game that we made up
that we played during recess if it was raining outside so recess was in the gym
the game was kind of like dodgeball except you could change sides at any
time and we called the game bash ball
and it was a pretty fun game so the way you'd play bash ball is first we would
pick teams and then we would put a bunch of balls on the half-court line down the
middle of the gym and then the two teams would go to the walls on opposite sides
of the gym with the balls right there in the middle and then when everyone was on
the walls and we were all set someone would yell go and as soon as that yell
came we would run to the center as fast as we could and try and grab a ball and
once you had a ball in your hand the goal was kind of like dodgeball the goal
is to throw the ball at someone on the other side and just like dodgeball if
you hit them and they didn't catch it they were out and if they caught the
ball that you threw at them you were out and so that part was very much like
dodgeball but this is what made the game a little bit different when it made
sense when you thought it made sense you could actually just switch to the other
side and play for the other team and what that meant is that eventually there
would only be two people left one on one side and one side one on the other side
and when one of them hit the other one with the ball the last person in the
game would be the champion so it was a pretty good game it was pretty fun but I
could never actually win the game I would do okay I was pretty good at it
but I wouldn't ever win that bothered me a little bit I wanted to win and there
was another kid named Billy in the class and he would play the game with us and
he was a smaller kid sometimes we called him little Billy he was very nice
was tough he was small but he was tough and he was determined he was also very
quiet he didn't say much he played he played the game hard but he didn't talk
much and he was probably about the same as me at bash ball he was about as good
as I was and that meant that he never actually won the game either but I could
tell that liked me he wanted to win the game for sure then one day it was
raining outside so we had recess in the gym and we were kind of excited because
that meant we got to play bash ball and it just so happened that this day wasn't
really a good day for me and I was playing very well in the first game I
made it all the way until I was the fourth guy left so I got fourth place
and then in the second game I was the fifth guy last left a little bit worse
but still fifth place not bad in the third game I was the third guy left so
third place that was the best night ever done and then I got knocked out but that
got me close I did almost I could almost taste that victory I really wanted to
win and then in the fourth game in the fourth game well something happened and
it was kind of confusing but I'll try and explain it so I saw the best player
from the other team charging to the line with a ball in his hand and he was gonna
throw his ball at one of the best players from my side who was also
running to throw the ball at the other guy they were both focused on each other
so they didn't see me and while they were looking at each other and they were
charging towards the line to throw the ball their balls at each other I came
running in from the side and that's the other guy on the other side threw the
ball at our best player I threw the ball at that guy and I nailed him I nailed
him and it felt good because if I could get
that good player out of the game there's a better chance I could win but he was a
really competitive player and when I hit him he screamed really loud because he
was mad that he got hit and when he screamed everyone in the whole gym
looked at him
everyone except Little Billy Little Billy that quiet kid that I talked about
Little Billy pulled a very sneaky move you see while I was distracted and
focused on throwing my ball at that other kid Billy snuck in out of nowhere
and hit me hit me right in the side but here's the thing because everyone was
looking at the kid that screamed no one saw me get hit no one saw it well no one
but Billy and I looked around and I saw that no one was looking everyone was
looking at someone else and then I just acted like it didn't happen I acted like
I didn't get hit no one really noticed like I said X except Billy and Billy
just stood there looking at me then he actually pointed at me and I could see
he wanted to say something like hey you're out or I just hit you but he
didn't say anything and I felt bad for a quick moment but you know what I really
wanted to win and a few seconds later there were balls flying around again and
Billy had to move and the game went on and kids kept throwing balls and kids
kept getting knocked out one by one one after the other including Billy and when
Billy walked off the court he did it very slowly just looking at me and then
other kids got knocked out and I kept going
and then suddenly it was just me and one other kid on the other side it was down
to the two of us to see who would be the champion and we both rushed to the line
ready to throw and then I did something very smart
instead of focused on focusing on hitting him with my ball when he threw
his ball at me I just dropped my ball I just dropped it and I focused on
catching the ball he had thrown and I did it I caught that ball that he had
thrown and that was it I had won I was the champion and I felt
awesome I raised my hands into the air and I celebrated by victory and a bunch
of kids came back onto the court and they congratulated me for being the
champ and gave me high fives and then I saw Billy through the crowd then he was
just looking at me but he didn't look happy for me at all in fact he looked
disappointed he shook his head slowly with a look on his face almost like he
felt sorry for me he had a look on his face that said one thing and one thing
only that he knew I had cheated
he knew I wasn't a real champion not at all
then he kept looking at me but he didn't say anything he didn't need to say
anything because I felt it my victory was no victory at all I had won only
because I had cheated and as soon as I realized that the celebration was over I
wasn't happy anymore not at all in fact I felt awful he knew
I cheated and I knew I cheated and I also knew something else at that exact
moment in time I also knew that I would never cheat at anything again
cheating isn't winning cheating isn't losing cheating is worse than losing
cheating is a disgrace and if you cheat you're cheating yourself you're cheating
yourself of hard work you're cheating yourself from getting better and you're
cheating yourself from knowing what victory what winning really feels like
and on top of all that more important you're cheating other people from the
victory that they actually earned and deserve
cheating is awful and it will make you feel awful and I hope that little Billy
hears this story one day then if Little Billy is listening I would tell him
three things I'm sorry that I cheated I never cheated again
and I never will and thanks Little Billy for teaching me how to be a better
person and as you listen to this story out there I hope you can learn from
Billy the same thing that I did don't ever cheat