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i like playing soccer. i don't like playing in the weather that we had today. my legs were frozen, wet, and numb. it hurt to kick because my foot was sopping and the ball was filled with water. my sweater and 3 layers were soaked through. i must have weighed 40 pounds more than usual. at some points the rain felt more like icy shards of glass. the wind rocked me. the soccer was horrible most of the time. actually playing seemed worse than pointless. but... we played. i played. i toughed it out. i scored. i passed. i ran. i felt silly at times. like someone was having a right jolly ol' laugh at our expense. hell, i was laughing at times. but there's a resiliency in this story. when i looked around... at the team... at my friends... playing... it was nice. i like that we... that i can do that. and i think people take for granted the mental toughness that is required in simple situations like this. to survive 90 minutes of that... when most people are laughing... wondering why the hell anyone would put themselves through that for a stupid school soccer team... its something. and i like that i can do it. its a small battle... but i like to win.