Once upon a time, there was a young horse who was called Thunder. He liked to see the horse races a lot and dreamed that one day he could join one of those horse races. He told his parents about his dream and the parents actually supported him. So at the next morning, his father, who was also a racer before his leg was hurt, prepared a special training for his son. The young Thunder had to wake up earlier and run so many miles per day through the jungle, hills, river, and also rocky road. Thunder always felt so exhausted, he lost his breath and his legs were awfully hurt.

“Why should I do this hard practice every day? You were a winner before, so I have this gene of a winner and I can feel it. I am already able to run faster than the other kids.” asked Thunder to his father. His father just smiled and simply answered, “There is no champion who was born, they are built. If you want to be a winner you have to practice hard. Because a winner is always built through process and good characters.” The young Thunder didn´t get the meaning of his father´s words, but he agreed to practice because he wanted to be a winner just like his father.

One day there was a championship for young horses and Thunder excitedly wanted to join the race. He asked his father, but his father said that he was not ready yet and he had to patiently wait till his time came. The young Thunder was not satisfied with the answer and he really wanted to join the race, so he secretly applied himself.

The competition day came and Thunder felt so excited. He thought that he could be the winner. His father who was one of the judges, was so surprised to see Thunder in the field, he was totally disagree but he let Thunder to see the competitor´s abilities by his own eyes, so that he would realized his own power.

All of the participants gathered on the field, they were ready in their position. Thunder´s father blew the whistle and then the race began. Thunder ran as fast as he could. He lead at the first time, but then he started to lose his energy and ran slowlier at the second round. The other horses were able to catch him up. When he realized that he lead no more, he tried to force his self to be faster, but his legs wouldn´t cooperate. So at the end he lost the race.

He went home so disappointed of himself. His father came to him and then said, “Now you realize how strong the other horses are.  You can´t be a winner by thinking that you are the fastest among others. To be a winner, you had to practice a lot of things. You have to learn how to control your ego and manage your energy first. I believe that you learn something from your experience today.” The young Thunder cried disappointedly and his parents hugged him. They gave their support to their son.

The next morning, Thunder realized that he had to practice more so that he could be better. He trained so hard but he complained no more. His father were so proud with his progress. Thunder´s leg became stronger and he also was able to control his ego and manage his power. So Thunder was ready to join the next championship.

The day of championship came. The participants stood on their own line on the field and were ready to run. After one of the judge blew the whistle, the participants started to run as fast as they could. Thunder already practiced a lot and he knew now how to manage his self. He wasn´t the leader at the first round, but then after the other horses started to lose his energy, he used all of the energy that he had and ran as fast as he could. But unluckily, he wasn´t the winner of this championship. There was other horse who was faster than him and won the race.

He felt so disappointed again, he thought that he might not win any race like his father. His father came to him at the finish line, and said, “I know how you feel, but you have to be proud of yourself like we do feel. You have made this far with your own effort.” Thunder replied sadly, “I know, but I still lose the race, maybe I will never be a winner like you.” Then the father said, “You must remember that you are also the winner even it isn´t the first place this year. You made a great progress compared to what you had achieved last year. Don´t be so hard on your self. There are always someone who are better than us, so we couldn´t  always be the number one. And the most important things that you have to learn is…. life is not always about winning, but giving your very best so that you will regret nothing in the future. Your hard work will never betray you. So when you compete again, just remember to give your very best.” Thunder took the words deep down his heart and he remembered to always give his best instead of thinking to be number one. He kept training everyday to prepare himself for the next year championship.

The next championship at last came. Thunder was so excited, he felt that he was so ready to compete. Then when the whistle was already blown, he gave his best and he didn´t think about winning. But there was an accident, the other horse had a bad intention so he pushed Thunder to the fence and kicked Thunder front leg, so that Thunder fell down. His parents ran to him and supported him to stand again. It was so hurt for Thunder, but he kept thinking to give his best and he had no intention to give up. So he stood up and started to ran as fast as he could. He gained his spirit by the support of the parents and suddenly he forgot how hurt he was and ran so fast. He was only a step closer to the bad horse nearby the finish line. The bad horse tried to kick him again but he jumped and then accelerated his speed so that he was the first who reached the finish line.

The parents ran to him and hugged him, finally his hard work and mentality brought him to the finish line as a winner, the true winner. Thunder realized what his father had said before that his hard work never failed him and he won not only the race but he was also the winner of himself.