How did I fall in LOVE? (with badminton)

Inspired by this girl... who is the best volleyball female player I've ever seen (i am not bluffing, coz I've never watched professional volleyball match on TV).

Badminton is my first love, and still my only true love in sports (I've ever said, if badminton is a girl, i will marry her.)

...The Childhood, when the love started to blossom...

I started to play badminton bcoz my father loved to play this sport and at that time, he often played badminton with the children at our garage or at our storeroom near the house. Everytime the television broadcasted Thomas&Uber cup (which is the most prestigious event in badminton), we watched it together as a family. We shouted as if we were watching at the stadium and we even prayed together for Indonesia's victory. Sweet family isn't that?

However, imagining myself to be a professional badminton player has never appeared even in my wildest dream. I know I was and I am above average player, but I play totally for fun. When I was young (which is not so long ago), I used to play for 6 hours non-stop and if not because it was 3 o'clock in the morning, I would continue playing. Moral of the story? You've got to do what you love, and you can do it for a long time without feeling tired, not a bit.

... My School Life ... The Courtship.

In my junior high school (secondary school equivalent), I won my first match ever in my school after beating my younger brother. As the president of my school's Students' Union then, I was clearly crowd's favourite to win the match. Moral of the story? Don't play against a Students' Union president, you are not against him only, you are against the crowd :P

In my senior high school, I almost never played badminton for the first 2 years, before I picked up that sport again in my last year. Played for fun, I'd beaten some of our school's best players, although I was not even in the school's team due to my laziness to practice. My philoshopy at that time... badminton is a skill, you either have it or not. I was not entirely wrong.

... University Days ... Our Honeymoon! :D

During my university days, I played badminton more often than ever. In my second year of study, I was inside my hall's team, contributing to, maybe, the best achievement for our hall's history. Just not so long ago, I was inside my school's team, and we did win bronze medal. Currently, I am still the captain of Indonesian badminton team in my university, and we are still unbeatable in International Games (!!!)

... What had I learnt along the journey? ...

Badminton had taught me many things I would probably never learn in the academic world or anywhere. It taught me team work, the importance of discipline and hard work, and self mental talk. Everytime I stepped my feet inside the badminton court, I always said to myself that I will win. I don't come to play a badminton match to lose, even if I were to play against world's number 1 player. When you say to yourself you will win or lose, either way, you are most probably right.

As Maria Sharapova (who is unbelievably talented and unbelievably beautiful) said.. "I don't reach this level by waking up everyday and eating ice cream." Hard work paid off, huh?