Olivia stared up at the mountain trail, her legs already aching from the first mile. The peak looked impossibly far away. Her family hiked ahead, but Olivia sat down on a rock.
"I can't make it," she told her father when he came back for her. "It's too hard."
Dad sat beside her. "You know what I do when something seems impossible? I don't look at the top. I just focus on the next step. Then the next one. Before you know it, you've climbed a mountain."
Olivia wasn't sure, but she stood up and tried it. One step. Then another. She stopped looking up and just watched her feet moving forward. When her legs burned, she rested. Then she took another step.
Two hours later, Olivia stood at the summit, wind whipping her hair. She could see for miles in every direction. Her family cheered.
"I didn't think I could do it," she said, breathless but grinning.
"But you did," Dad said. "One step at a time. Remember that feeling, Olivia. Any big goal works the same way."
Looking out at the world spread below her, Olivia knew she would never forget this day - or the lesson it taught her.
When Amara transferred to Westbrook Elementary, she ate lunch alone for two weeks. The other kids already had their friend groups, and no one seemed interested in the new girl with the accent.
One day, Amara noticed a boy sitting alone at the next table, picking at his food. She recognized him - he'd been absent a lot lately, and when he was at school, he seemed sad.
Amara hesitated. She was already lonely. What if he didn't want company either?
But she remembered how terrible it felt to eat alone. So she gathered her courage, picked up her tray, and walked over.
"Is this seat taken?" she asked.
The boy looked surprised, then slowly smiled. "No. I'm Derek."
"I'm Amara. I'm new."
"I know," Derek said. "I've seen you sitting alone too."
They talked about video games and favorite books. Derek told her his grandmother had been sick, which was why he'd been absent. Amara told him about moving from another country.
By the end of lunch, they were laughing. And the next day, two other kids joined their table.
"Thanks for coming over yesterday," Derek said. "I really needed a friend."
Amara smiled. "So did I. I guess sometimes you have to be the friend you wish you had."
The score was tied with two minutes left. Jayden had the ball, and the championship was on the line. He could take the shot himself - he was the best scorer on the team. But three defenders surrounded him.
In the corner, his teammate Miguel was wide open. Miguel hadn't made a single basket all game. He'd missed easy shots. Some kids on the team had stopped passing to him.
Jayden could hear the crowd chanting his name. They wanted him to take the shot. Coach always said Jayden was the closer.
But Miguel was OPEN. And Miguel had practiced just as hard as anyone else.
Jayden made his decision. He passed the ball to Miguel.
Time seemed to slow down. Miguel caught the ball, set his feet, and shot. The ball arced through the air... and swished through the net.
The crowd erupted. Miguel was mobbed by teammates, tears streaming down his face. "You passed to me!" he kept saying to Jayden. "Why did you pass to me?"
Jayden grinned. "Because you were open. And because we're a TEAM. Teams win together."
Holding the championship trophy together, Jayden knew: this feeling was better than scoring any basket himself.