One of our family’s favorite quotes is from 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 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.”
Theodore Roosevelt
Our girl, Mackenzie, was in the arena this year! She wanted to complete two achievement programs at church (Faith in God for kids 8-11) and Personal Progress (for kids 11-18). Because she was turning 12 right before the end of the year and she knew both programs were being retired for 2020, she had an abbreviated timeline for completing more than 110 hours of work. To her complete credit, she got ‘er done.
Because she’s human, this year also included periods of procrastination, some scrambling to make up for lost time, overcoming some insecurities, confronting weakness, and times of discouragement.
I was so inspired by her as she worked through all that. She picked herself back up and near the end of the year, when it became apparent she wouldn’t finish without a supreme effort, she dug in daily for months .
What you don’t see is this bike wash and maintenance was done in chilly November. Tough girl! She learned how to change tires and lube chains, working hard to scrub off grit and replace handlebar grips where needed. Our ragtag fleet of wheels has never looked better.
When she crossed her finish line, her face was marred by dust, sweat, and blood (and tears). We hustled over to her last interview a few minutes late, still shuffling paperwork, and barely able to believe she’d pulled it off.
I think a part of her wishes she’d finished more elegantly, perhaps with time to spare, but instead she and I learned some valuable lessons about striving imperfectly, about staying in the arena after failure, about that triumph of high achievement that is so much sweeter because of the wrestle with self it required. The things that are truly worth doing are rarely easy. Well-done, Lady!
