Stories
of great social enterprises rarely begin with nods of approval, handshakes of
agreement and pats on the shoulder. Most of them actually begin with laughter, or raised eyebrows, from bemused hearers and bystanders.
I'm realising that cynicism is really 'expired hope'; no different from milk that turns sour with time. Cynicism is to inspiration what a clogged pond is to a fresh, fast river, teeming with life. We need a fresh perspective all the time!
Theodore Roosevelt once 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 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 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"
If you are trying, and are being laughed at, remember that it is a privilege to be in your position; a privilege many squander away in exchange for the comforts of watching from the stands, instead of fighting in the arena.
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