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
Time in the "arena" is a prerequisite to achieving our dreams. While in the arena, there will be times of great victory which spur us to take on greater challengers. There will also be times of defeat & hardship, of "dust and sweat and blood" -- but these are possibly more valuable than the victories because like a blazing fire to metal, these times mold us into the victors we become...these times reveal the victor already in us.
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