Inspire Me Today June 10 2013
One of my favorite figures from history is President Theodore Roosevelt. He lived an amazing life. He accomplished so many big things – he built the Panama Canal, won a Nobel Peace Prize, started America’s national parks system.
But he received a great deal of criticism during his lifetime, exactly because he dared to do big things. After his presidency, he gave a speech in response to all of those who had been hollering and sniping at him through the years. In it, he said that “it is not the critic who counts. The credit belongs to the one who is actually in the arena.”
I find myself thinking a lot about what President Roosevelt said. I think a great deal about battling in arenas. We live in a world that is in many ways broken and scarred – a broken, weary world that loves to kill our dreams, to strangle them to death before we have a chance to fully nurture and embrace them. We live in world vehemently hostile to hope.
Theodore knew this well. He pointed to the critic outside of the arena, and we must confront him as well. Choose to live your life at full volume, with strength and joy and passion, and you will surely confront those who will try to tear you apart. The fight in this arena will be harsh and difficult. Living an inspired and inspirational life is often difficult and unglamorous, completely devoid of glitz and pomp. The road is painfully perilous and uneven, and it will take a long, long time before our dreams will be achieved.