The Man [and Woman] In The Arena

The calendar marches on, relentlessly, toward the end of another year. As you’re checking another Thanksgiving off the list, Christmas preparations are now without obstacle. Before we know it, the ball will drop and we’ll be ushering in 2016. While I’m well aware that time does not stand still for anybody, I want to take pause and reflect on something that I’d too easily dismissed and very much misunderstood.

First, some context. I recently emerged from watching Ken Burns’ PBS special, The Roosevelts: An Intimate History. When I say emerged from, I mean it. It’s 7 episodes and 14 hours long. I’d watch it again in a heartbeat. If you haven’t seen it, check it out on Netflix. I was captivated. Given everything that’s going on in our world right now, from ISIS threats to economic concerns to cultural battles that seem to tear at the very fabric of our national tapestry, I was renewed by the spirit of our ancestors and the Roosevelt family. Unabashed ambition, at-times heroic sacrifice, and mind-boggling resilience seemed to be everywhere, at least in a view of the long-arc of history. Yes, huge character flaws were there too. The entire landscape of America was changing quickly and without apology. One can only look at today’s events with a new set of eyes after considering what took place a century or so ago.

While each of our respective struggles is real, the collective power we posses to challenge evil and push forward the fight for good cannot and should not be underestimated.

As we look back on a fairly disappointing year in the investing markets, both stock and bond, as we battle the pessimism that terrorists would wish us to succumb, and as we look for leadership that doesn’t often appear to be present, know this: you do have the power to transcend it. By invoking in yourself and others a spirit of resilience and courage, tomorrow will still arrive but it will be met by a champion for that which is good and just. Most importantly, a positive future requires those who do and those who persist.

As you consider all of those areas of your life worth giving thanks for, please support those who are out there doing things, making even a small dent in the universe in the service of others. Champion those who need your belief and trust.

The Man In The Arena

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

Happy Thanksgiving.