Excellence in archery

don’t worry about the bow

uh they took away my arrows

drive this is ladies and gentlemen

ambition and there is nothing like it

but with this innate human desire

there is a responsibility that we owe to

ourselves

you see we deal with our basic human

needs

so we can live but from then on you will

you will observe that people orient

themselves towards the ambitions of

their interests

i found my own interest in archery four

long years ago

when the prospect of playing with bows

and arrows seemed quite fun

but as all good interests do my interest

became my hobby and before i knew it

my hobby became my ambition

how did this happen to me because you

see it started

when i shot not just for the fun of it

but to reach a higher goal and to better

myself

it started when i treated the sport

as a means to an end and not just as an

end in itself

that is something i call an active hobby

one in which there is the exploration of

values

and of self-improvement unlike what i

would call

a passive hobby things we do because

they’re fun

thrilling or just relaxing

stephen pressfield the

screenwriter of king kong the good one

not the other one

to best put it when he described turning

pro now that does not necessarily mean

making money out of your ambitions it’s

a philosophy of work which describes

taking ownership and showing respect for

the ambition the hobbies that you hold

treating it as if it were your job and

so we

pick up the pen the brush or the bow

and pull ourselves up by our bootstraps

not just when we feel like it

and i will not lie to you

there will be a fair bit of luck along

the way

but what tell me this what is the use of

luck if you cannot see

it because you see luck came to my

doorstep when i qualified

for the continental african games 2019

but my reward wasn’t the qualification

my reward

was owning up to the responsibility of

being

the first archer to represent madagascar

in an international event

[Applause]

now i understand the fears and anxieties

a lot of us feel in the face of

responsibility

i understand the fears and anxieties a

lot of a lot of us feel

in the face of being accountable for

what happens next

but take it from me don’t fear it

search for it find it because

with the burden of responsibility comes

recognition with the burden of being

accountable for what happens next

it also makes you accountable for the

achievements of the day

the way it worked out for me is every

time i would show up

on time lifting the targets moving the

equipment

and setting up and watching over the new

archers always

lending a hand when i could so much so

that

the coach needed an excuse to have me

around like oh

that’s just a personal assistant

yeah just personal assistant and so you

see

we after a lot of

after a lot of self-development that out

a lot of effort

and time we start understanding the

forces of antagonism

around us they’re everywhere it is the

rain that fall

on training days it is your friends that

nag you to go hang out with them

it is the burgers that smell so good

it is the people that doubt you and

don’t believe you and can’t

understand you

know this with time

and with effort everything

everything works your way

i cannot stress this enough if you’re

going to remember one thing from me

this evening remember this perseverance

perseveres

it’s as simple as that

and i will be leaving you all with this

quote

by jordan peterson

the purpose of life is to carry

the heaviest burden you can bear

and bear it so go out there i want to

see

what you can do thank you very much