Respect the arena
Last year, someone shared this quote from President Theodore Roosevelt with me.
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, 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 dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”
This is good stuff – perhaps the best. Push. Strive. You will sometimes fail. But continue on.
And it is a reminder to the critic within us. It can be easy to criticize. If you must add your two cents, remember this: Respect the women and men in the arena!
