Last week, Hugs realized he is short. Well, I'm sure he realized it before, but he mentioned it in a conversation that he is really, really short (he is) and that there are lots of younger kids who already are taller than he is (there are). Both dh and I are short, and Hugs' chances for hitting a height over 5'6" are slim. Since he was about 9 month old, he's been solidly below the 5%ile for height.
That night, DH went to the library to get some reading material and he picked up the autobiography The Last Pick by Dave McGillivary, who is the race director of the Boston Marathon. He is also a short man, but with lots of motivation and drive; he certainly has not let his height dictate his accomplishments. He said it's been a good read, and he read a quote from the book that was from Theodore Roosevelt:
"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 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 and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for 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 he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."
We both really liked this quote, so I'm adding it to our copywork list for this year or next. Click here for a great link to other quotes by Theodore Roosevelt.
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