(exposition)

    Finn was a little boy who lived in the big city. He was curious and playful, spending most of his free time playing tennis or exploring the busy city. He looked forward to walking to the park each weekend to play tennis with his dad. Under the hot summer sun, Finn practiced week after week working his hardest to get better for the tournament that was coming up. 

Wake up! Wake up!

    One Saturday morning, Finn woke up hearing “Wake up! Wake up!” He opened his eyes just a crack to see it was his dad. “Your match! Finn, your match!” His dad said, still shouting. Before he could say another word, Finn jumped out of bed, racing to get changed. Today was the day of the big tennis tournament that only happened once a month. Soon, Finn was running out the door with his shoes half on, throwing his tennis bag into the car. 

    The ride there felt like it lasted forever, and Finn was filled with excitement, ready to win. Not long after, they had made it to the tournament just in time. There, he met the boy he was up against, Sam. After putting his stuff down, he walked up to Sam to say hello but was ignored! Finn was only met with a mean look that sent him walking back to his dad upset. 

    After getting their stuff ready and warming up, they went to a court to start their match. Shaken up from their meeting earlier, Finn was nervous as the match began. It didn’t take long before Sam won the first game. Finn tried his best but one game turned into two, then three and four. With each game he lost, Finn became more and more upset, making him play worse and worse. No matter how hard he tried, he could not beat Sam. In the blink of an eye, it came time for the last point Sam needed in order to win. Finn felt helpless as Sam won the last point and beat him.

I'm super sad I lost.

Learn from this with Confucianism!

    (Rising Action)

    The car ride home was quiet and Finn ran to his room, hiding in his bed as soon as they made it back. After giving him some time to calm down, Finn’s dad checked on him later that day. Finn explained to his dad how disappointed he was. Finn’s dad started to remind him about how their family followed Confucianism and how a big part of Confucian belief is “self-cultivation”, or bettering yourself (Richey). He told him that one part of this is called “Zhi” and it means wisdom (“Essence of Confucius”). Finn’s dad went on to say that even losing comes with wisdom and this wisdom is very important for getting better at anything (Stefon). He then reminded Finn that there was still one more tournament before the end of summer, next month.  Lit up with new hope, Finn announced that he would make it his goal to win the next tournament and went to bed holding in his excitement.  

Thank you dad!

    In the morning, Finn’s dad got up bright and early to wake up his son. A little confused, Finn got up, taking his tennis bag as his dad asked and they went to the park. As soon as they turned the corner they saw a man in the tennis courts wave to them. Finn waved back even though he was confused. As they walked into the tennis courts, his dad explained that this was the new tennis coach that he would be seeing every day. Full of joy Finn jumped up and down thanking his dad. Day after day, Finn walked to the park to practice with the coach often being told that he was getting better.

    One day Finn was practicing with the coach like usual but, Finn kept missing the ball. Full of anger he threw his tennis racket on the ground. Understanding what he just did, he said sorry and turned to the coach who was staring at him with her arms crossed. 

I'm sorry.

Next time you feel like doing something like this remember Kavanah!

    After a few seconds of silence, the coach finally said “I think there is something important you should learn.” She told Finn that she believed in a religion called Judaism and that Jewish people hold an idea of “Kavanah”. Kavanah means purpose or intent and is used in prayer to make sure that the prayer is done thoughtfully (My Jewish Learning). She goes on to say that even though Kavanah is an idea in prayer, other people have made the idea bigger so it can be used in all of life (Teutsch). She tells Finn that with Kavanah, he would be able to control his emotions better and not make bad decisions like throwing his racket. 

I think my coach has a point...

    After the rest of the lesson, Finn spent the walk home thinking about what the coach said. After a long hard think, Finn knew that his coach was right and he needed to be more careful and think before he acted.

How will I do this?

    The day of the next tournament was coming up and Finn had no plans of slowing down. Each day he practiced harder than the last but no matter how hard he trained, he didn’t feel ready. He laid in bed worrying and wondering how he was going to do during the tournament.

Wow you're really good!

Thanks I practice!