Are You In Or Out?

This week’s post is all about asking the tough question of, “Are you in or out of the Arena of life?”

We live in a world where armchair critics are plenty, where judgements are easily and mindlessly passed on social media whilst hiding behind our own screens.

The reality is that we don’t play sports or achieve anything using our mouth. I love watching people when they are at a sports events and it’s amazing how easy it is to criticise the players and the coaches as we make the game and the decisions look so easy.

I wonder what will happen if we were on the pitch playing the game and making the decisions. Would it be as easy as being a sideline or armchair critic? I don’t think so.

Too many of us criticise people without having a clue about their lives, walking in their shoes or had any of their struggles.

This has set the stage for many people who are lacking in compassion and courage. We lack the courage to muck in and the compassion to think kindly about those who do.

I love what Theodore Roosevelt said about the man in the Arena quoted below:

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong 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, 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 time 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.”

We can’t deny that there is a lot to criticise in the world in ranging from our dissatisfaction with our political leaders, pointless and mind numbing reality TV contents to climate change but we need to break the cycle of criticisms.

Criticisms have not got us any closer to the outcomes and the world we would like to see. So how about getting into the arena of life and doing something about the things we don’t like.

It’s not enough to point out people’s failures or how they could have done it better. We need to get off our high horses and walk alongside them to make sure we help them to do it better.

How much victory, defeat or failures have you known? They will be proportional to the number of times you have shown up in the arena of your life.

If you don’t make any attempts, you will neither know the joys of victory and success or the lessons from failures. You won’t know what it is to overcome unless you have allowed yourself the pain of the struggles.

The next time you are tempted to criticise another person who has actually showed up in the arena of their life, pause and take a breath.

Ask yourself some simple questions:

Why do I have the time to criticise them? What better ways could I spend my time? Have I walked in their shoes or attempted to help them? Am I in the arena of my own life?

What other positive actions could I be taking? Am I disguising criticism as help, concern or care for them? Am I criticising because I’m secretly envious of the attempts they are making?

I have no doubt that by the time you are done answering these questions, the urge to criticise would have disappeared.

Do yourself and others the favour of showing up in the arena, with your face marred with dust, blood, sweat and tears, taking the risks of great victory or failure.

When you are in the arena, you have no choice but to be your brother’s keeper because you have an idea what it feels like to be in their shoes as you struggle alongside and not against them.

Have a great week in the arena of life. Thank you for reading my post and please share with others. Don’t forget to subscribe.