"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, La Sorbonne, Paris, 1910

I read this quote this morning after a call with my life coach.  It is an excerpt from a speech made by Theodore Roosevelt given at the Sorbonne on April 23, 1910.  The content of the call with my life coach was mostly regarding the many decisions I am facing in the near future.  The decisions, while not necessarily imminent or certainties, include: New York or Atlanta; what to do if I have no job or condo rented by end of August; what happens if there is no UC benefit extension at the end of August; a potential relationship and how to handle it.  That is the stuff my dust and sweat and blood are made of.  

"...his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."  This resonates with me the most.  Or perhaps it is the most uplifting, encouraging and reassuring.  The tastes of victory and defeat have graced my palate.  Defeat is bitter and acridly flavoured; victory, sweet victory, is the taste that I want lingering on my tongue.