Be the Doer of Deeds

One of my best friends, Khalila, was sharing with me her thoughts on how we all find ourselves questioning the path we choose at some point. I believe our lives are defined my opportunities, even the ones we miss. We are confronted daily with choice after choice and while we have “helpers” such as parents, siblings or teachers in our lives that can guide us, the final choice is always our own.

One of my favourite quotes, from which I draw strength, is by Theodore Roosevelt in his “Citizenship in a Republic” speech, April 23, 1910. 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.

For me, this relates to the need for personal strength. When we make some choices, not everyone is happy with them. I am reminded of a difficult moment in my career when my former coach disagreed with my choice to train in Holland and confronted me with his hurtful opinion. In fact, a handful of people so close to me did not see this for the opportunity I had. I chose from something unknown to them and as Khalila told me, even people we hold dear can hurt us. That is the difficult part.

However, the relationship you have with yourself is what is important. It is up to you to know what you want and be ready to stand up for that choice. I hope that you are never afraid to try new things and take chances. Just try it. Just see what is possible.

I believe in you!

Your Athlete,
Susan