Monday, March 30, 2009

Was It Worth It?

Turned out to be a quote heavy day. Seemed like around every corner was another example of weighing options and choosing paths. All hit me from different places yet all related.

Alfred Lord Tennyson..."'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all"

Garth Brooks ... "We could've missed the pain but we would've missed the dance"

Often times we're faced with decisions which at the time seem so larger than life... you're in the heat of battle or facing stern opposition to your view points or struggling internally with moral choices and at moments notice you must decide... Is the gain worth the pain? Does the reward outweigh the risk? What will people think? Will I regret this? And that, regret, is ultimately what we all must deal with. Important to remember, we not only have regret from Action but also Lack of Action. Not taking the plunge can come back to bite you just as hard as taking the plunge. At the end of the day, it's your head hitting the pillow and only you know if you're at peace...not peace with someone else... but peace with yourself.

Shane McConkey age 39 died last Thursday while filming in Italy. This was a guy who knew how to take some serious plunges. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUfF-kyKdGU

Freddy at CrossFit OneWorld posted one of my favorite quotes today. Known by a few different names but "Man in the Arena" is my favorite.

Theodore Roosevelt:
"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 in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly...who knows the 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 have knew neither victory nor defeat."

Speech at the Sorbonne, Paris April 23, 1910

1 comment:

JWC said...

Good, honest stuff RP