Striving To Be Number One

Banned for life.

Trevor could not believe his eyes.

Banned for life!

Was it a bad dream?

Trevor had unknowingly taken an illegal performance enhancing drug just before the World Championships. He had believed it when someone told him the drug was a quick-fix solution to the problem of his injured calf muscle. He had also believed them when they insisted it would not be traceable in any drug test.

Trevor’s obsession with being Number One had gone too far. Now, what he had been preparing for his whole life had amounted to nothing. Not only was he not Number One, he was not even a runner up!

He was nowhere.

What would he do with his life now? At 25, he was still a young man with his whole life ahead of him. Running had meant everything to him and subsequently, he had not had time for a social life. No friends. No girlfriends. Even his relationship with his parents was now non-existent. Especially after the public humiliation of testing positive for a banned drug.

He lay on his bed in his small but luxurious bachelor apartment, eyes fixated on the ceiling, listening to the constant whirring of the fan above him. His mind was awash with so many emotions. Regret, sadness, disappointment … He really had no clue what to do next.

His phone rang, but he did not take his eyes off the ceiling. He let it ring and ring until finally it stopped. The vibration came next, as it always did, signalling a message. Trevor got up to go to the bathroom and after fetching himself a glass of water, he decided to look at the message. The only reason he wanted to read it was because he still held a slight glimmer of hope that it had all been one big misunderstanding. That the test results were botched and that they would re-instate him and give him his Gold Medal.

The message was from his mother. This made him so frustrated he was tempted to throw the phone on the floor, but managed to stop himself and read the message instead. The message read that his mum and dad had managed to arrange for him to see a psychologist, to help him to deal with his situation. He was supposed to be one of the best in the world and his mum was certain that he would find the meeting beneficial.

Trevor had lost the willpower to reject his mother’s advice, so he replied to the message with a simple ‘OK’.

Dr Thomas’ office wall was adorned with degrees and awards. He truly was a well-renowned therapist. Trevor couldn’t help but feel that his parents had brought yet another ‘Number One’ into his life.

The first session was a disaster. Because of his resentment towards his parents, Trevor was totally disengaged. However, he continued to attend sessions with Dr Thomas, and there were subtle, yet consistent improvements with each one. Eventually, after almost six months of counselling sessions, Trevor finally knew what he wanted to do with his life.

He wanted to be like Dr Thomas. He wanted to help people like him, people whose lives were driven by obsession. And this time, he knew he didn’t have to strive to be Number One. All he needed to strive to do was help people not to make the same mistakes that he had.

Life had another pleasant surprise in store for Trevor. There was a young lady in Dr Thomas’ rooms who worked for him as his admin clerk. While Trevor was waiting for his appointments, she would strike up a conversation with him. Soon Trevor began to look forward to his appointments, just so he could see her. The two youngsters soon discovered they were perfect for each other! Trevor popped the question and after they married, they had two sons together.

It was the annual school Sports Day and the Grade 1 race was about to start. Trevor sat in the stands with his wife and his parents, ready to cheer his firstborn on.

“On your marks, get set … GO!” The gun went off and the little athletes sprinted towards the finish line. Trevor Jr won the race by a country mile!

Trevor, his wife and his parents all jumped up and down in the stands, clapping and cheering for joy!

Six-year-old Trevor Jr looked up and noticed the broad grins spreading across his parents’ faces.

He thought to himself…

THE END