“If You Start Something, Always Try To Excel At It, Or Don’t Begin At All.” – Sergei Grinkov
Sergei Grinkov was a two-time Olympic gold medalist in pairs figure skating, a Russian gentleman and in my opinion, one of the best athletes of all time. His tragic passing led to the publishing of a beautiful memoir written by his skating partner and wife, Ekaterina Gordeeva. In this memoir, Ekaterina talks about some words of wisdom Sergei had for skating and for life. My favorite is “If you start something, always try to excel at it, or don’t begin at all.” In other words, always try to do your best. If that’s not your intention, then why bother? Never hold back when you can push something to the limit and gain so much more than you initially thought.
I think about these words whenever I sit down and work on my book. I want to make sure I write in the best way I can before I release the finished product. It’s extremely important to excel at whatever you do. When a surgeon performs surgery on a patient, if the surgeon doesn’t do his/her best, the patient will not be better than before. Of course not everything we do will have such serious consequences, but whether you’re a writer like me, who wants to write a story or you’re a chef who wants to prepare a delicious meal, it’s always worth it to go above and beyond. This is true with everything that’s presented to us in life such as relationships, job interviews, school assignments etc. Your hard work will reflect the kind of person you are and who you can become. Sergei only lived for 28 years, but in those years, he inspired so many from doing the best he could. I’m thankful for that. Let’s all work on leaving a similar legacy behind.You never know what effect it can have on something or someone. Glow & shine bright! xo