On reaching for the sky

Striving towards perfection falls more into the bounds of art rather than work in the broadest sense. Art creates work, and the object of art is always victory. Victory is therefore sought by every free man, it is a prodigy of his nerves and will, a fruit of dreams and imagination. It is in fact the materialization of all that the victor has thought, experienced, and what has sometimes brought him to his knees. This moment of triumph, when you already know that you have won, when your hands and knees are still shaking, and your stomach does all those strange things when the last arrow hits the target – this moment will forever remain the victory of the artist’s will over the sportsman.

You may not be aware of it, yet you are watched and admired when winning and failing with dignity. For who among us has not felt at least once a bitter failure? But the thing is not the ratio of one to the other – that is a mere statistic – the thing is the art of falling and being able to rise again above the average. Such things are done by artists and do not burrow yourselves over it, for there is a great abundance of you among us. Thanks to you, others try harder, fight their way to the top, secretly admiring your fortitude. This process that many of us will go within – this road leading through tears and disappointments, but I assure you – far away, at the end of this journey, there lies the bounty, you just have to reach out for it to taste the emotions that turn a mere mortal into a titan.

The longer I think about it all, the more I acquire the certainty that man is destined to win – it is enough for each of us to find the artist in ourselves and let him speak. The first step is always the hardest, the first fear is always the toughest. But if you face it, if you don’t hesitate and take that first leap, believe me, you will be victorious. Our colleagues have proven this principle more than once with themselves. Whether it’s becoming, like Michelle Jay, the Archer of the Year, several years in a row, or breaking national records at just an early age like Olivia Reynolds, who probably doesn’t know herself how many she already holds.

Or, finally, like all of our friends included in the list of the new records recently published by our awesome Membership secretary Noel Banon (who, by the way, holds all sorts of titles and records himself).

Anyhow, to me, you are like lions, insatiable and courageous. Continually reaching higher and higher until one of you touch the sky – and then what? Then: a sense of fulfilment, an awareness of strength and courage, ultimately far more valuable than pure gold forged into medal form.

By your PRO