Winston Churchill statue against a dark background. Photo by Christian Skiada.
Murray Smith
A plaque on my desk carries a quote which is the heading for this article.
An elderly Sir Winston Churchill was invited to give a speech to the pupils of the grammar school he had attended. Behind him lay mistakes and failures but many successes too. Churchill was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served twice as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, notably during the Second World War, then again from 1951 to 1955.
“Never, never, never… give up.” That was his speech. While astonishing for its brevity, its impact endures.
Recently in Queenstown, a driver from a car rental company was dropping us to our hire vehicle. The young man explained he was a ski instructor. Sadly, being later in the season, (which had produced poor snowfalls), work on the slopes disappeared and he’d found alternative work driving. Hearing this grabbed my attention since when he had picked us up, this strange ‘random’ thought had entered my mind… this young Brit is somehow like Eddie the Eagle.
If you’re unfamiliar with ‘Eddie’, (real name Michael David Edwards, born 5th December 1963), he’s an English ski jumper and Olympian who in 1988 became the first competitor to represent Great Britain in Olympic Ski Jumping. His passion for skiing developed at 13 years old after a school snow trip. As portrayed in a 2016 biographical film, he was never very good, often finishing last in competitions. Later on, having not made the grade as a downhill skier, he switched to ski jumping as there were no other British ski jumpers with whom to compete for a place.
Eddie the Eagle.
Eddie had some disadvantages – he was heavier than other competitors, under his goggles he wore thick glasses for shortsightedness, which misted up at altitude — he lacked financial support for training. Nonetheless he managed to represent Great Britain at the 1987 World Championships in West Germany. His presence there qualified him as the sole British applicant for the 1988 Winter Olympics Ski Jump competition in Calgary. Though he finished last, his result was still good enough then to set a British record. That achievement stands with Eddie remaining a colourful celebrity, placing nowadays as Britain’s sixth best jumper ever.
Wanting to encourage our young driver, I told him he’d made me think of Eddie who, in spite of setbacks, persisted. Very surprised, he related how he treasures an ‘Eddie the Eagle’ ski-sweater featuring his childhood sporting hero… he’d was even nicknamed after Eddie. My words seemed to bring encouragement to this young man.
Way too many people’s dreams and aspirations are ended by discouragement. Maybe you’ve had disappointments. Success is not the absence of failures. Disappointments can result from situations beyond our control… or from our own poor choices, but failures shouldn’t ever keep us down, or be allowed to define who we are.
My favourite uncle often said, “aim for the moon, at least you’ll clear the pine trees”.
I’m convinced there’s an added dimension here – it’s God’s promise to anyone who seeks Him, to help them accomplish things that are seemingly impossible.
