Insufficient balance

  Lin Xiaoyu, whose leg injury has almost recovered, can now move around freely. Lin Xiaoyu, who hasn't played basketball for half a month, couldn't help but want to play some basketball. Lin Xiaoyu made a phone call to Yan Nan and after agreeing on the time, he came to the court with his ball.

  It's been two weeks since I saw Yan Nan, and her hair has grown a lot longer. Now Yan Nan's beautiful hair is already down to her shoulders.

  Lin Xiaoyu's legs were almost fine, but she still couldn't make too intense movements, so Lin Xiaoyu just practiced shooting on the court. It had been a long time since she last touched a basketball, and Lin Xiaoyu felt a strange sensation when touching the ball, missing several shots in a row. It wasn't until the eighth shot that Lin Xiaoyu finally heard the long-awaited "swish" of the net.

  Yan Nan rarely plays basketball now, and Yan Nan, who is more and more like a lady, picks up the ball under the basket for Lin Xiaoyu. Watching Lin Xiaoyu shoot, Yan Nan feels very happy too.

  Lin Xiaoyu has always been dissatisfied with his unstable mid-to-long distance shooting percentage, and now that he can't run away, Lin Xiaoyu is taking this opportunity to practice his high-arcing shots.

  Sitting on the sidelines of the court, Yan Nan asked Lin Xiaoyu who was drinking water: "Xiaoyu, have you ever thought about what you want to do in the future?"

  "Xiao Nan, why are you asking this?" Lin Xiaoyu put down the kettle and looked at Yan Nan with confusion.

  "I just want to know about your ideals?" Yan Nan said with big eyes looking at Lin Xiaoyu.

  "I have no ideals." Lin Xiaoyu raised her head and gazed at the sky. At this time, there were some faint white clouds floating in the sky, slowly changing their shapes under the azure blue sky.

  Lin Xiaoyu never had any grand ideals or wishes since childhood. In elementary school, the teacher asked them to write an assignment, letting each student write what they wanted to do when they grew up. At that time, Lin Xiaoyu admired the brave and wise little flying hero in the animation on TV who could fly around freely. Lin Xiaoyu remembered that after handing in her assignment with the wish to become a little flying hero when she grew up, the teacher left this comment: "Being a pilot is much more interesting than being a little flying hero, be a pilot instead."

  Lin Xiaoyu felt that being trapped in an airplane flying up to the sky was vastly different from freely soaring like Little Flying Hero, so Lin Xiaoyu did not follow her teacher's guidance and aim to become a pilot. As she gradually matured, Lin Xiaoyu also came to realize that humans, lacking wings unlike birds, could not fly through the air like them. Thus, Lin Xiaoyu's pure wish to become Little Flying Hero slowly faded away in her little mind.

  Lin Xiaoyu was a person who hadn't even thought about what he would do tomorrow, so Lin Xiaoyu had basically never thought about what he wanted to do in the future except for that one time when he had a naive wish to be a little hero. At this moment, hearing Yan Nan's words, Lin Xiaoyu really didn't know how to respond.

  "Really? Xiaoyu, have you ever thought about what you want to do when you grow up?" Yan Nan asked in disbelief.

  "No, except when I was a kid and thought about being a little flying hero, I never thought about what to do when I grew up." Lin Xiaoyu said slowly while stroking the basketball in her hand.

  Lin Xiaoyu's words made Yan Nan purse her lips and smile for a while.

  "Really? Then what do you want to do after finishing your studies?" Yan Nan asked Lin Xiaoyu seriously.

  Lin Xiaoyu thought for a moment and shook her head again.

  Yan Nan's two small hands propped up her own knees, supporting her head, gazing forward, and slowly said: "When I was very young, I had my own dreams. My dream is simple, because when I was a child, I saw my little aunt wearing that flight attendant uniform looking so good, from then on, I have always longed to wear such a uniform one day, flying between the blue sky and white clouds. This is my dream."

  "This dream of yours will definitely come true." Lin Xiaoyu sincerely encouraged Yan Nan.

  Lin Xiaoyu could see a kind of persistence in Lin Xiang's firm gaze looking forward, and for the first time, she felt that a person really needed an ideal to find their own direction.

  Ryunosuke Akutagawa suddenly thought of the Akagi in "Slam Dunk", this person with unshakeable conviction has been persisting in his ideals, and no matter how many times he was heavily hit, he couldn't shake his determined heart.

  Ideals are a lantern in life's journey, on the long road of life, in that endless darkness, ideals can always make you see the direction of the road ahead.

  Lin Xiaoyu suddenly felt like she had become extremely depressed and her chest seemed to be blocked by something, because Lin Xiaoyu thought about her own future for the first time.

  Lin Xiaoyu thought about her own life, from primary school to high school, university, graduation, and then work. Lin Xiaoyu suddenly realized that none of these were things she liked or wanted. This kind of life made Lin Xiaoyu feel like Sisyphus in Greek mythology, who was condemned to roll a huge boulder up the mountain every day, only for it to roll back down each night, repeating the same meaningless task over and over again.

  What does she want for herself? Lin Xiaoyu asked herself in her heart. But Lin Xiaoyu couldn't give herself an answer.

  Dazed. Lin Xiaoyu felt as if she was standing in a desolate and barren wilderness, frantically looking around her, only to find that the vast expanse of land stretched out endlessly in all directions, with no clear direction to follow. Lin Xiaoyu felt as though her heart had suddenly become empty, as if she had lost hope for everything.

  The path of life is not something that a 15-year-old like Lin Xiaoyu can fully comprehend. The confusion about one's own life is a puzzle that many people have in their hearts. People go to school, work, and live, but at some quiet moments, they suddenly wonder what the point of living is, and most of the time, they cannot find an answer.

  What is life?!

  The various dilemmas in life will always wear away the ideals in people's hearts, or it can be said that the increasingly greedy desires growing in people's hearts are changing their original aspirations.

  Making contributions to human development is the ideal of a few saints and great men.

  Most people are in such a state of life. When they are hungry and cold, they want to eat their fill and drink enough; after their lives are stable, they will think about living a rich and luxurious life; when their own conditions can satisfy their own extravagance and waste, but they are not willing to be inferior to those who have more real power than themselves, and they are eager for a higher life for their desires; in the growing greed, those desires always make people feel painful like a poisonous thorn in their hearts.

  This is also why so many children from poor families, after becoming officials, become prisoners due to corruption and bribery, all because of the greed in their hearts.

  I remember a prophecy that told of two prisoners who were locked in a remote prison. In the cold and damp prison, there was an iron window. Outside the iron window was a desolate swamp. One prisoner looked at the iron window that locked his freedom and the hopeless swamp outside every day, feeling extremely depressed and painful, and slowly died in prison; while another prisoner always looked up from the iron window to see the floating clouds or twinkling stars in the sky, and this prisoner persisted with joy until he was released from prison.

  The attitude towards life often affects your life in this way, and the same environment with a different mindset will produce completely different results.

  The joy of life is actually very simple. This joy can be a cheap but delicious food, a warm greeting from loved ones, a gentle kiss from a lover, a small drink with like-minded friends who speak freely, or a sunbeam on a winter morning.

  Life is one's own, and so is the judge of life.

  A person with a good attitude towards life will never feel lonely and lost when sitting in a rocking chair basking in the warm sunshine during their twilight years.

  Yan Nan saw Lin Xiaoyu lost in thought, his face full of confusion. So Yan Nan pushed Lin Xiaoyu and said: "Xiaoyu, ideals don't have to be thought about too far away, just think about the present. You like basketball very much, right? We'll be in high school soon, and when you're in high school, go for first place, make it your goal like 'Slam Dunk' and strive for it, isn't that great?"

  Yan Nan's words were like a spring breeze that awakened Lin Xiaoyu who was lost in her own goals.

  Right. I haven't even entered high school yet, so there's no need to think too far ahead about the future. Being able to get a medal that I want on the basketball court is what makes my life shine. Lin Xiaoyu slowly shook off the somewhat depressed mood she had earlier when thinking about her unclear life path. Lin Xiaoyu felt that being able to happily play basketball was already very fulfilling for her, and every time she felt the orange ball jumping in her hands with a rhythm that was sometimes fast and sometimes slow, it seemed like another heartbeat that gave the hot blood in her body even more surging power.

  Lin Xiaoyu thought of his future high school life, and when he thought of himself and his teammates sweating on the court to win a glittering trophy, Lin Xiaoyu felt his whole body filled with strength. Sitting on the edge of the court, Lin Xiaoyu used all his might to slam the basketball in his hand towards the hoop on the court, and at the same time, he quietly set his first goal in life.

  "Thank you, Yan Nan." Lin Xiaoyu hugged the ball and walked slowly with Yan Nan on the way home.

  "What's there to thank?" Yan Nan looked at Lin Xiaoyu in confusion.

  "Thank you for giving this to me, I really like it." Lin Xiaoyu raised her left hand, on which was a red lucky wristband. Lin Xiaoyu continued: "Also thank you for reminding me today, so that I have a goal in life now. I feel that after having a goal, my whole person is filled with strength."

  Yan Nan looked at Lin Xiaoyu's refreshing and delicate face, as well as the red wristband on his hand that he had given him, and said softly to Lin Xiaoyu: "Xiaoyu, actually I still have another wish now."

  Lin Xiaoyu looked at Yan Nan's pretty face and asked: "Really? Is there anything else you wish for?"

  Yan Nan looked at Lin Xiaoyu, who was looking into her eyes. After a while, she smiled slightly and said: "My other dream is a small secret of mine, I can't tell you now, but you'll know later." Yan Nan finished speaking and ran forward, then turned around to face Lin Xiaoyu, who was five meters away from her, saying: "Xiaoyu, you must win the high school championship, and then I will tell you my second dream. You must win the championship!"

  Lin Xiaoyu looked at Yan Nan's beautiful figure, which appeared a bit rosy under the sunset, nodded and said: "En, I will try my best."

  In the distance, it wasn't a flock of geese flying in formation, nor was it the sound of their low honking. The setting sun slowly pulled out two long shadows of Lin Xiaoyu and Yan Nan as they walked on the road. Their two young faces, still with a hint of childishness, also slowly dissolved into the sunset...

  Life always makes us feel tired at times, but after walking out of confusion and confusion, life is a bright light.

  No matter if it's a rainy or sunny day tomorrow, the sun will still rise in the sky, whether you can see it or not... #