Who's the Clown?

Once I got past my shy phase, I found that I was quite a talker. This opened me up to meeting people that I wouldn’t have had I not found my voice and when it came to competition, I became more motivated to show how good I could do with whatever challenge was given to me. I started showing off, letting others know the skills that I possessed, hoping that this would give them a better perspective of my personality and hoping to make friends. Nevertheless, I found out quickly that this wasn’t the best way to do this.
One of the first times that I remember doing this was in first grade. The teacher thought that I was good at creating stories and offered to let me put on a play for the students next door. I got my little team of people together and we came up with a play, assigning each person to his or her role. We practiced, and when we thought that we were ready, we walked to the other class to put on our performance. However, when we got there, everything fell apart.
At first, our play was flowing naturally. Everyone was doing the best job that they could with their roles, and people seemed to be having fun. However, when the initial excitement died down, I decided to hype things up by deviating from the script. Everyone was scrambling to figure out how to do their part. At some point, shoes were thrown, and the teacher in that class kicked us out without us having the chance to finish our play. I was sad and embarrassed, and I knew that if I hadn’t tried to show off, I might have gotten a standing ovation.
Then, when I was in second or third grade, I tried out for the basketball team. I got in, and it was cool, because I was one of two girls. I was bound and determined to do my best. I had found that usually when I was around all boys and I was playing any kind of sport, people favored the boys over the girls, so I wanted to show everyone that I was just as good as they were. I worked hard and practice ended, leaving all of the kids there to hang out and wait for their parents.
That’s when I saw one of the boys playing on the monkey bars in the gym. I was used to having to prove myself, and I didn’t see the point in not making a new friend, so I walked over there and began to play with him. We competed, trying to see who could go across more bars, when I slipped and crashed to the gym floor, breaking open my chin. I don’t remember much about what happened next. I know my mom came, and I know that I had to go to the hospital and get stitches. However, everything happened so fast that keeping track of each and every detail is hard. What I do remember is that after that, I wasn’t allowed to play any sports during recess and I couldn’t go back to my basketball team. If I hadn’t tried to show off, I might not have been in the same position.
Then, when I was a teenager, I was riding my bike and saw a couple of boys that I knew from school. One of the boys was someone that I used to hang out with, and I thought that I would get their attention by trying to ride my bike without holding on to the handle bars. This was all good and great until I fell off the bike and into a curb, breaking open my lip and injuring my wrist. The scar on my lip became a permanent fixture, and my wrist still hurts every once in a while, and I know that if I hadn’t tried to show off for them, I might not have had that unfortunate accident.
I learned that it is okay to be thankful and happy for your achievements, but you have to be careful about showing off. Sometimes, when you are trying to get someone’s attention in that way, it goes south, and there are times when that happens where you end up with permanent scars from your experiences.