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