Do you know why I gave my company the name, Daring And Mighty? It was inspired by a speech made by the 26th President of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt. My Dad had a section of the speech on his office wall when I was a young girl and I used to read it every day. I knew it off by heart and often recalled it in tough situations. Little did I know that it was my introduction to Positive Affirmations. Looking back, I can see just how powerful the affirmation, DARE MIGHTY THINGS has been in my life. It has literally guided most of my life choices – from my choice of high-school to my choices in men. There have been great victories and humiliating failures! I wouldn’t change a thing. Most people who know me well know that I am rather an open book – sometimes to my detriment. Thing is, I am proud of my life. I love to share my stories of success, adventure and romance. I am equally happy to tell you my stories of defeat, bad decisions and downright stupidity! They are real. It is life!

Anyway, today I was distressing Affirmation Art boards to give them their shabby chic look and feel. I loved it. Great to get my hands dirty and move away from the computer screen! Working with the boards reminded me why I started to write affirmations in the first place – to inspire other people in the same way that the Roosevelt quote inspired me. That quote moved me into a mindset from a very early age that life was for living, that it was ok to make mistakes and that critics are just scared!

So, today I give thanks to Mr Roosevelt for his inspiring words. I hope they inspire you today too.

• In the battle of life, it is not the critic who counts; nor the one who points out how the strong person stumbled, or where the doer of a deed could have done better.

• The credit belongs to the person 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, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; who does actually strive to do deeds; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotion, spends oneself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who at worst, if he or she fails, at least fails while daring greatly.

• Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those timid spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the grey twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.