RossiCheated wrote:
“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
^ That's Mike Rossi's post on his Facebook page.
Mike, you do understand that this would apply to you if you had the courage and integrity to fail while daring greatly. But you lacked that courage. You cheated. You set out to do great deeds, with great enthusiasm and with some devotion. When you wrote "must run Boston," it was a grand ambition and worth the pursuit.
Sadly, when you realized that goal was beyond your reach, you weren't man enough to fail. You didn't understand the last line, that even in failure you would never be among those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat, provided you made a real, honest effort in the arena.
You started out with a meaningful goal that is shared by many and realized by some. But you lacked the courage to fail.
And so you cheated.
Theodore Roosevelt would count you among those cold and timid souls. You are everything he railed against.
YES! Excellent analysis. It's not about the victory, or the defeat. It's about doing your best, win or lose.
(and before the attacks start from Mike or his minions, running or not running is the not the point. The rest of us try and fail. We don't cheat.)