Never Give Up!

Usain Bolt

“Accept the challenges so you can feel the exhilaration of victory” said General George S. Patton, a sentiment that has sprung to mind numerous times this year. Those of you who accept life’s challenges inevitably reach a point where in a particular field you have taken things as far as you can. I have seen a few clients this year who are reaching the point where participation in running and contact sports like football are causing injuries and taking too long to recover from. Part of the process of not being 18 anymore! However, I have also seen one of my heroes retire in the form of Usain Bolt, although a young man he can no longer keep up with the 18 year old sprinters perhaps? He has risen to challenges throughout his career and achieved highly in a very competitive arena, so much so he is recognised throughout the world as ‘The World’s Fastest Man’ or the ‘Lightening Bolt’. Like the clients I see he has to reassess and look for a new challenge, he is unlikely to be the type of personality to sit back with pipe and slippers!
I think we all have these times if we are the type to strive to do well and accept and look for challenges. The type of challenge may change but we can still set goals, still stay fit and healthy and certainly still rise to a challenge and feel that adrenaline rush when we reach our target or feel the extreme joy of a job well done.
Challenging ourselves to do better or be better people is a lifelong endeavour and makes us more interesting and fulfilled as well as a fully fledged contributor to the incomparable human race. The clients I see who are these people are great to be around, they are energetic and they are interested in others. They make the world a better place by trying to do better and raising the bar.
I would like to leave with another quotation to make you think as you wonder if you can rise to another challenge,
“Victory has a thousand fathers, but defeat is an orphan”, President John F. Kennedy