Optimists Get To Win
You see him out there. He's the one in the bleachers eating a hot dog, drinking a beer, and laughing as you tumble down the hill. He's the one "smart enough" to sit out the contest and not get booed, burned and bruised.
The critic's the one that gets to be right.
However, he's also the one who doesn't get to stand on the podium, hold the trophy, or pop the champagne with the other winners.
Why?
Because he's too cynical to get in the game, to take a chance, to compete, to make mistakes, to face humiliation and heartbreak. He's too busy trying to be right. He's the Monday Quarterback, the Armchair Warrior criticizing your effort from the comfort of his seat.
Critics get to be right.
Optimists get to win.
“It’s not the critic who counts,” said Theodore Roosevelt in a speech called "Citizenship in a Republic” at the Sorbonne in Paris on April 23, 1910. The speech is popularly known as “The Man in the Arena.”
"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred with sweat and dust and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who, if he wins, knows the triumph of high achievement; and who, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”
Optimists get to win... not just on the mountain, football field or arena, but mentally, emotionally and spiritually.
Inside each of us is that gnawing critic, that armchair warrior, waiting anxiously for us to stumble and fail. Eager to tell us what we should have and could have done better. Don't let him pull you into his pity party. Get in the arena. Be willing to get booed, burned and bruised. Be thrilled to know the feeling of victory or defeat. Be an optimist.
"There has never been a statue erected to honor a critic." ~ Zig Ziglar
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Note: All photos in this post were taken at the Stifel Palisades Tahoe Cup / Men's Audi FIS Ski World Cup, February 2023.
I’m Michael Kennedy, Olympic Valley, CA resident, married to Nicola Kennedy. I’m a premium ghostwriter and photographer. I just want to say thanks for your attention - I appreciate it in such a noisy world. If you enjoyed it, please share with others.
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If you're interested in owning any photos in this post, or in my gallery: click here, call or text me at 530.608.9150. Let me know what size you want, and I'll send a quote. My email: michael.kennedy999@gmail.com.