Fighting your way up

I think one of the most inspirational quotes that I know of comes from President Theodore Roosevelt. It uses boxing as an analogy:

"It is not the critic that counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, 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 and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who at best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who, at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat."

This quote speaks of having the courage to take action and taking a leap forward towards your dreams. There will often be bystanders, who will stand at a safe distance and place their bets on you failing. When you do, they will say "It's a good thing I decided not to take his path." But what they are missing is the whole point of undertaking the challenge in the first place-

"That brick walls are there to prove how strongly you want to overcome them." (A quote from Randy Pausch)

Is it the fear of failing that prevents us from moving that one step forward towards our dreams? I think it is something more sinister than that- it is the lack of desire to succeed that separates the warriors in the ring from the spectators.