I hate election years! All of the debating, mudslinging and annoying ads that you can’t seem to escape from. I’ll be glad to see when someone finally wins and our country can go back to its relatively peaceful state. One of the things I cannot stand is the downright utter disrespect shown towards our current president. I’m not necessarily a Bush fan and I do believe he made some mistakes but I refuse to judge him. As J.R.R. Tolkien once wrote, “The wise speak of only what they know”. And I dare say those who speak the loudest have never had to fill a delicate position such as the one he now holds. No matter where you go or what you do in life there are always those ready to armchair quarterback and tell you what your doing wrong. The following quote gave me hope for my own life and I believe fits this blog well. It’s by another somewhat controversial president: Theodore Roosevelt. Addressing a group in Paris in 1910 he said:
“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 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 and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for 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 he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.”
That has to be one of the most powerful sayings I have encountered in my years. He basically says let the critics talk, try and if you succeed great. If not at least you tried and in the end at least you will not fall with those who never tried. I read this everyday before I go to class. It helps me when the load is heavy and I worry I won’t make it.
Now my question is: What does this mean to you?
