63: Persistence and Joy

"...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..."

This week, I’m reading from Citizenship in a Republic, a speech given by Theodore Roosevelt in 1910.

Reflection question:

• How will you let the dust, sweat, and blood from last week go and look forward to daring greatly this week?

Reflection on Quote:

Earlier this week, I attended the grand opening of our local library.  The capital campaign had been delayed and had faced many obstacles and criticisms.  Despite of all this, the volunteer members of the fundraising committee persisted. And, the joy at the grand opening was contagious all because these volunteers decided to keep going. 

Too often we are distracted by obstacles and criticisms. Our work is hard, dust, sweat and blood.  We make errs and we will come short at times.  But, we are spending ourselves for a worthy cause and we are daring greatly. And, when we persist in our work, we like the volunteers on the fundraising committee have ability to bring joy to those in our communities.

This quote has entered the public domain.

To explore fundraising coaching deeper and to schedule an exploratory session, visit ServingNonprofits.com.

Music credit: Woeisuhmebop

Transcript

Welcome back. This podcast explores the beautiful space where generosity occurs through ancient and modern writings from all cultures, seeking deeper wisdom for fund development work. Each week, we reflect on a quote and coaching questions to ground you for the week ahead. If you like this podcast, please leave a review in your favorite podcast app.

Earlier this week, I attended the grand opening of our local library.  The capital campaign had been delayed and had faced many obstacles and criticisms.  Despite of all this, the volunteer members of the fundraising committee persisted. And, the joy at the grand opening was contagious all because these volunteers decided to keep going.  This week, I’m reading from Citizenship in a Republic, a speech given by Theodore Roosevelt in 1910.

Quote

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.

He also stated. 

Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.

Unquote

Too often we are distracted by obstacles and criticisms. Our work is hard, dust, sweat and blood.  We make errs and we will come short at times.  But, we are spending ourselves for a worthy cause and we are daring greatly. And, when we persist in our work, we like the volunteers on the fundraising committee have ability to bring joy to those in our communities.

Let’s reflect on a question this week:

How will you let the dust, sweat, and blood from last week go and look forward to daring greatly this week?

Share this podcast if you enjoy these five-minute reflections and subscribe to receive these reflections released every Monday. To explore fundraising coaching deeper, visit Serving Nonprofits dot com. See you next week.