The Credit in Life
A few years ago I found myself at a place of defeat. The battle to make a difference that I seemed to be engaged in had taken its toll and I resigned myself to mediocrity and status quo. One too many " who does he think he is" comments had penetrated deeply and I finally looked in the mirror one day and said " they're right, who do I think I am." So I began to go through the motions, recognizing that many police officers could go through a career relatively unscathed, not rocking the boat, believing that they can't make a difference and come out the other end with the handshake, the embossed badge and a decent pension. Keep your head down and wear beige was the mantra of some.
Then one day , an empathic friend who had also been in the trenches gave me a copy of the following Theodore Roosevelt quote. I gained strength and vigor from this quote. I got back into the arena. It also drove home to me the immense power of the written word and in the spirit of the movie Pay It Forward I had also passed this on to many friends who cared enough to make a difference and were paying the price. It is not the lazy man or woman who burns out, rather it is those with fire and passion that end up in the battle. This quote is for them. If you are reading this and cannot relate to " the man ( or woman ) in the arena" then you have a choice. Get in the arena, or criticize from the sidelines. In life there is no middle ground. For all those cops in the arena, my hat is off to you and my heart is thankful.
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 up 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.
Then one day , an empathic friend who had also been in the trenches gave me a copy of the following Theodore Roosevelt quote. I gained strength and vigor from this quote. I got back into the arena. It also drove home to me the immense power of the written word and in the spirit of the movie Pay It Forward I had also passed this on to many friends who cared enough to make a difference and were paying the price. It is not the lazy man or woman who burns out, rather it is those with fire and passion that end up in the battle. This quote is for them. If you are reading this and cannot relate to " the man ( or woman ) in the arena" then you have a choice. Get in the arena, or criticize from the sidelines. In life there is no middle ground. For all those cops in the arena, my hat is off to you and my heart is thankful.
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 up 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.
posted by Bob S at 3:15 p.m.
1 Comments:
I give you a ton of credit for being a warrior Bob. You have given those of us that care enough about the outfit strength to "do the right thing" and attempt to hold those accountable at higher levels of the organization.
I hope I will be viewed someday as someone who spent sometime in the arena trying to make a difference for us all.
Rob Creasser
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