I'd Bleed Myself Dry, For You I'd Bleed Myself Dry

I've heard of some great conspiracy theories in my day: Who killed JFK? Did Neil Armstrong and others on the Apollo 11 Mission really walk on the moon? Where is Jimmy Hoffa buried?

Now, another grand fabrication has come along that just might be true if we dig deep enough. Chicago White Sox pitcher Mark Buerhle has claimed that the honorable Texas Rangers' hitting dominance at home is due to a sophisticated cheating mechanism. You can find the details here.

I recently finished the chapter in The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt that relates the tragic tale of his mother Martha's death followed by the death of his young wife Alice in consecutive days. Morris takes special care to continually emphasize the ever-present passion with which Roosevelt lived his life.

One of the great risks in living a passionate life is that you open yourself up to whatever might come your way. The highs seem to be higher and the lows are that much more difficult to deal with because of the power and gravity that each moment carries with it. Living a passionate life is a choice that all of us can make, but before that decision is made, the consequences must be weighed.

When I was in the 8th grade, I received a note of encouragement from a man at our church that contained a quote from Teddy. Many of you have probably seen this quote many places, but at this moment it seems incredibly poignant.

"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 in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly...who knows the 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 have never known neither victory nor defeat."