ARE YOU IN THE ARENA?
There are many ways to define a champion, but I’m not sure anyone’s ever painted a more complete picture than President Teddy Roosevelt. On April 23, 1910, Roosevelt delivered a speech titled "Citizens in a Republic" at the Sorbonne in Paris. Though much of that address has been forgotten, one part - the part known simply as “The Man in the Arena” - lives on. It clarifies, still today as it did back then, the courageous heart and competitive spirit that set the champion apart.
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I love this passage because it offers such a stern challenge for each of us who are working to win in any important area of life. It removes the gray area that so often and so easily keeps people from really going after what they say they want. It poses a black and white question that each of us has to answer, a question that exposes what we’re really made of and how worthy we really are of winning. The question is simple...are you in the arena or not?
This is the baseline decision that winning requires us to make. The hard part, of course, is that choosing to step in the arena doesn’t guarantee us the outcome we want. It’d be a lot easier if it did. Roosevelt makes it clear that while the triumph of high achievement is found there, so too is the pain of failure and shortcoming. He knew the hard truth, that really, truly competing means going all in - fighting and scratching and clawing - with no promise of the outcome you want in return, and maybe in fact, with only disappointment to show for your effort. He knew that it’s easier, more comfortable, and more convenient to do what most people do - to steer clear of the arena and avoid the fight.
My challenge for you today is to stop and recognize the arenas you’ve been challenged to step into. I’m a big believer in competition - that no matter who you are or what you’re doing today, an opportunity exists for you to compete and win. For you, that battle might be obvious and easy to see, like you against an opponent - someone else who’s after the same thing you are. Maybe, though, that battle today is more personal and private. It might be you against a challenging set of circumstances or conditions. Maybe it’s the fight happening inside your own mind, between the voice of your inner loser - begging you to take the day off or the easy way out, and the voice of your inner champion - challenging you to step up and do that hard but necessary thing that you know winning requires. I’m confident there’s an arena waiting for each of us. What does yours look like?
Once you’ve recognized where the battle's being fought, the question of course becomes…what will you do with this challenge you've been issued? Will you display the courageous heart and competitive spirit of Roosevelt's man in the arena? Or will you allow yourself to settle for something less? It'll be easier, more comfortable, and more convenient to step back and steer clear of the fight. And it’s possible that no one else but you will ever know the choice you've decided to make. But today is also an opportunity to validate once again what you’re really made of and how worthy you really are of winning. Your arena is waiting, and with it, an opportunity to do what champions do - to step in and compete.