I want to write a short story based on an experience I had in life, need your thoughts?

[Silver7]

I'm Jamaican, I am only 2 inches away from being 6ft tall, so I stand at a good height, I have long legs and I love using the gym to build muscle.

I have always loved doing track & field in my early high school years but I had to stop doing track training because it caused me to reach home late at night. When I turned 18 years old, I decided to start doing track & field again.

One day I was sitting beside my father and I told him that I wanted to do track & field, he looked at me and told me that I wouldn't be any good at track & field. It was like something inside me shattered when said that to me. It really messed with my head when he told me I wouldn't be any good.

When I was doing hill training, I made it up the hill in ten point eleven seconds (10:11s)

When I joined Ake track team I ran so fast that one of the assistant coaches was telling me about how amazing my run was, so even though I didn't get to continue doing track & field and I moved on to other things. Wasn't it wrong of my father to tell me that I wouldn't be any good, because a parent shouldn't urge their child to give up on something before even giving it a try ...Right?

(I literally feel like if I didn't fight in my mind, my father's words could have broken something in my spirit)

(The replies I get from all of you will to some degree dictate how my writing of this short story will go)

[Ordinaryaverageguy]

Wasn't it wrong of my father to tell me that I wouldn't be any good, because a parent shouldn't urge their child to give up on something before even giving it a try ...Right?

This will probably be an unpopular opinion. And keep in mind, I don't know you or your father or your family dynamics. That said, I think it's not necessarily wrong for a parent to advise their child in that way.

The parent may believe their words are wisdom & they intend to direct the child in a more successful or sustainable direction. They may say such things because they think it's a dream that won't survive against reality. They may even have been broken-hearted themselves by such a thing & believe they'll spare their child from having a dream & devotion to it & effort crushed.

And parents are not always right. Or wise. No matter how much they meant to be. The point being, what do we mean by "was it wrong"? Wrong, as in cruel? Wrong as in just poor advice?

How you'd proceed with your story depends on how you perceive the story-father to be. Will he be cruelly crushing hope? Will he be trying to prevent a heart-break? Did he have bigger dreams for his child? Did he simply not understand his child's physical capabilities and/or mental strength to undertake the hard road to being good at such ambition?