The greatest chance that can come to man or woman is the chance to do something worth doing…The days that are happy are the hard days where effort is crowned at the end.
Theodore Roosevelt
6/1/1906
Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) was an American statesman and writer, the 25th president of the United States, serving from William McKinley’s assassination in 1901 until the end of his second term in 1909. Roosevelt overcame a sickly and asthmatic youth to lead an active life as an adult and was long a proponent of a vigorous life, both physically and intellectually. Roosevelt was awarded the Medal of Honor in 2001 for actions as a lieutenant colonel on San Juan Hill in 1898, the only president of the United States to be so honored, and in 1906 he earned the Nobel Peace Prize and Roosevelt remains one of our country’s most decorated individuals. TR liked to talk about effort and achievement in his speeches and today’s Thought has appeared in a variety of contexts in assorted Roosevelt speeches over his career.
The greatest chance that can come to man or woman is the chance to do something worth doing…
We all need a worthwhile purpose for our life. To sit idly by while others go out and do things doesn’t do ourselves or our fellow humans any good. All of us were given assorted talents at birth and the happiest lives are lived by those who get the most out of those talents. And, as we say every hour on the hour here, it doesn’t matter what those talents are. They might lead us to the White House and the Medal of Honor and a Nobel Prize or they might not.
That’s OK. The purpose of our time on this planet is to make it serve us. It is not to live down the ages, though that happens for some. It’s a big world and there are and attainments and accomplishments are often dictated by forces outside of our control.
We can control only ourselves, and it’s important we pay attention to where our hearts tell us to go. When we have a plan for our life that is in step with our abilities and we spend time every day executing that plan, then the rewards will come.
The days that are happy are the hard days where effort is crowned at the end…
The opportunity to work hard at work worth doing is one of life’s great prizes. Your reward might be circumstantial or it might be intrinsic, or it might be both. Either way, it will be supremely satisfying.
The Thought for the Day runs regularly. Gaylon began stockpiling quotes in 1988.
