Life in Small Bites: 3.06 Action

Lessons in taking Action - 'One Bite at a Time'

President Theodore Roosevelt in a speech at the Sorbonne, Paris, April 23, 1910 counselled, "It is not the critic that 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 short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement. And at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat."

Like Robert Frost’s “Two roads diverged into a wood…” two streams of thought diverge into different actions leading to different outcomes. When outcomes don’t match hopes we can wallow remorsefully in the ‘woulda, shoulda, coulda’ (WSC) of unmet expectations, cloaking ourselves in de-energizing disappointment or we can courageously don the armor of responsible action, acknowledging that no one other than self is at the controls and everyday allows us to reshape the WSC.

Allow these Small Bites to be more than empty calories – Reflect on them in a way that they become energizing vitamin boosters for taking action.