IT IS NOT THE CRITIC WHO COUNTS!

You are here in life to give as well as to get, and if you don’t give much, you won’t get much. Don’t be a Spectator, Be a Player!-Debra Snider

Theodore Roosevelt’s words quoted below forever ring in our ears and echo on the inconspicuous loudspeakers of our mind. The Man-long gone, his name-still spoken, his words-forever remembered. Those words couldn’t have been spoken any better! They call us to lose ourselves to the frenzy of passion for what we deem to be a worthy cause, not stand back and fear to get spattered by mud or specks of dirt-No! go knee-deep in the direction of that which inspires you, even if the terrain is murky-mud or debris-dirt.

Those words are a jerk to true consciousness and a clarion call to question our ideals and once more look at the person we behold in the mirror and ask with a tear dropping down one cheek or a straight face “what do you still stand for?!” It’s a statement of self-reflection on our place in this world, whether we want to sit with the crowd and be part of the collective number, or dare to stand out uniquely, even if it means we’ll stand alone.

Whether we’ll do what we know is right, defying the limitations set by society, relationships, situations, stereotypes, sentiments and environments, look past the inhibitions we placed on ourselves and break free of the chains of our mental slavery…To stop playing critic and counting the number of times others fall, yet still there to count when they rise-To dare to try even if we know we could fail, to dare to proceed, even if it means we’ll leave a comfort zone behind and face the uncertain but promising future ahead.

To make a bold, clear solid statement to the world and more, to ourselves- that we will no longer be spectators and onlookers in the daily dash for purpose-discovery. That we’ll find ourselves and stay true to the potentials we always knew we had. To dig beneath the rubbles of our past despair and find the blanket of hope and courage we left behind. To raise the ashes of our defeats and ignite the fire of resilience to fight again! To admit that we may have made mistakes, but that it doesn’t make us mistakes..And we will be ready to make another one in order to succeed. To fail greatly and achieve greatly..That we’ll fall only to rise, and rise even if we fall…

It is a call thumping the clotted pulsing blood of our beating heart, filling faltering feet with steady surge of steadfastness, rousing drowsy spirit with valiant vigour…Whispering quietly but succinctly to us-that we can still be the best of us, no matter how far away we are, and arrive at our castle of fulfillment, no matter how different a path we have travelled or trailed..

Consider the words, let it ring ever in your mind..

“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.

Peter-Cole C. Onele was a Legal Intern/Research Associate at Obafunke Akinkugbe & Co. at the time of publishing this article