take the time

Today I found a poem in my inbox. As I read the words, tears pricked my eyes (and I'm not really someone who cries much).  It's the timing of the thing and the unexpected sender who cared enough to take the time to pass it on to me that means something big to me. "Don't Quit," an old poem with an unknown author resonated with me. The last stanza beats:

Success is failure turned inside out-- 

The silver tint of the clouds of doubt, 

And you never can tell how close you are, 

It may be near when it seems so far, 

So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit-- 

It's when things seem worst that you must not quit.

{To read the entire poem, click here. For an inspirational video click here.}

It reminded me of a quote I wrote in the front of my very first reflective practice journal. I hunted it down and found it in the belly of an old filing cabinet.

"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 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 up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for 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 knew neither victory nor defeat."

Theodore Roosevelt, "Citizenship in a Republic,"

Speech at the Sorbonne, Paris, April 23, 1910

Yes, I needed these tonight. I'm so thankful someone took the time to send me an email. I hope I pass the goodness along the next time I'm nudged to send along a quote or poem or video to someone else. It's a simple matter of taking the time to pass things along when we think of another person. These little acts of kindness make the world a better place.

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