“It is not the critic who counts… the credit belongs to the
man who is actually in the arena.”
— Theodore Roosevelt
Personal Note:
Theodore Roosevelt once said, “It is not the
critic who counts. Nor the man who
points out how the strong man stumbled or where the doer of deeds could have
done them better. The credit belongs to
the man who is actually in the arena.
Whose face is marred by dusk and sweat and blood. Who strives valiantly. Who errs, and comes short again and
again. Who knows the great enthusiasms,
the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause. Who, at the best, knows in the end the
triumph of high achievement and who, at the worst, at least fails while daring
greatly so that he shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know
neither victory nor defeat.” Oh, I love
that quote! That quote helps me to keep
in mind that the victory has already been won, I’m already successful. I became
successful the moment that I decided to get into the arena and do my best. As Rocky Balboa said in the movie Rocky, “I
just want to go the distance.” And, if
you remember, in Rocky part 1, Rocky did not win but he “went the distance” and
he proved that true achievement is not about winning or losing. It’s about “going the distance.” It does not matter what is on the score board
and it does not matter how other people evaluate our performance, the only
thing that matters is that we get into the arena, we do our best, we go the
distance. As Michael Jordan once said,
“I failed over and over again and that is why I have succeeded.” I love that quote. Every time you fail, you can get closer to
success because you can learn from each failure. What you learn in the valleys helps you to
get to the mountain top! If you did not
have these valleys, you would not be at the mountain top.
Continue to count it all joy!
God bless you!
Claysmile
