It's Not The Critic Who Counts

“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 and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, 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 he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.” - Theodore Roosevelt

To my friends, who also strive to fight the good fight everyday, whatever your fight may be, may you fight without ceasing... and know that I am with you. I encourage you, and am encouraged by you... may you never, EVER give up, even in the face of the ugly giant, even in the midst of the battle when it feels as though you have nothing left to give... NEVER EVER give up until THAT day comes... the day of your VICTORY! Ignore your critics, ignore the food police... they haven't got a clue... They know nothing of what they speak, and only show their ignorance in choosing to speak anyway... never listen to them... listen only to your heart... it alone knows... YOU alone know...
If you find your face marred by sweat and blood, be encouraged, for you are winning! There is no shame in suffering a setback, only triumph for those who fight... so fight valiantly, be the warrior you KNOW yourself to be, and know if you are reading these words, you have already won, so be encouraged! Dare GREATLY! Should you stumble and fall, call out. Call out and find the thousands upon thousands who are ready to come alongside you. Let them help you, and then pick yourself up and press on... the only thing in front of you is your destiny... a destiny bright and filled with hope and love, a destiny overflowing with the abundance of all that you can be and all that you have dreamed of! The only thing behind you are the days you have lived to the full... may your tomorrows be EVEN MORE SO! Do the deed you have been called to do.. do it with enthusiasm, with strength and confidence, and do it with the courage, conviction, poise and grace that the critic can only dream of having, yet will never come close to achieving... The critic is not a doer... the critic is merely an observer of those who do. Of those who fight. Of those who struggle and who live to fight yet again another day... of those who press on, of those who strive to climb the high mountain, of those who dig deep inside and as a result find themselves at the summit, overlooking all that is before them. The critic is merely an observer of those who DO... and WIN!
The cause is worthy of no less than all you have to give it, and you are MORE than up to the task! So give it your all! The credit belongs to you... So give it your all... everyday... and win.

WIN!

W I N ! ! !

Beautiful Day

I write a lot of things that I never post anywhere… some of them are stories, some of them are dreams, sometimes I’m writing to myself, and sometimes I have no clue who I’m writing to, I just do. Some of them are hysterical to go back to and read later, as in “WHAT was I thinking??? lol

Others hold more meaning for me…I wrote this a few days ago while in the midst of a low… If you’ve ever read any of my longer posts (most of which are currently offline), the last part of this will be familiar in tone and expression…
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I awake at #bgnow 41... and having already corrected, I dwell in the wasteland that is a low, my mind screaming at me to shove anything, everything I see into my mouth in a desperate attempt to quell the seemingly never-ending stabbing pain of weakness I feel at the very center of my being, even as I greet the beauty of the morning with my soul at once both euphoric and already exhausted... knowing I am not alone in this moment and having once again survived, but slowly waking to the realization that it will probably happen again...

(10 minutes later) d, you can have my body, and you will probably one day take my life, but you will never, ever, EVER get me to surrender my will to you.. for I have looked you in the eye and found you at your very core to be a weak, flawed, and temporary condition, unworthy of anything less than being kicked to the curb which I gladly do now...

I alone get to choose how I view this moment, how I view this day and my circumstances…. I now greet this morning with abandonment, excitement and boundless joy!!! and you? you go crawl back into the pit of hell from which you came... you are nothing to me...
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And a beautiful day it was… and no matter what the weather is right now, today is a beautiful day… hope it is for you too…