If you read other blogs along the lines of this one, you'll know that my idea for posting this poem is not original (see here and here), but I have to repost for my benefit (I love it and want to keep it handy) and for the benefit of any readers who do not read these other blogs (or Rudyard Kipling).
IF
By Rudyard Kipling
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;
If you can dream---and not make dreams your master;
If you can think---and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same:.
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop to build'em up with worn-out tools;
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings,
And never breathe a word about your loss:
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings---nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much:
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And---which is more---you'll be a Man, my son!
Like MM, I'm all for switching some of the words. What if the last line read:
"And---which is more---you'll be a woman, and you'll have won!"
Of course, that last word works well for me given the name of my blog. It's hard for me to even know what to write about this poem because it captures so much of my feelings that I've experienced or that I'm working toward experiencing in this trial, while still being inspiring, which I love. Any thoughts you want to share on this poem?
I love that we all shared it! :)
ReplyDeleteThis part stood out to me...
ReplyDelete"If you can think---and not make thoughts your aim..."
I struggle with giving into my negative thoughts...believing them and this line helped me realize, it's okay to have those negative thought as long as I don't give into them; making them a part of me.
Reminds me of something my therapist told me a few weeks ago, "Satan will always be there and we will always have negative thoughts. We can't be ourselves up for not being able to get rid of those thoughts. We really can't get rid of them. What we can do is let them come and let go of them. It's like sitting under an oak tree, next to a river on a fall day. The leaves falling are your thoughts. They land on the river and they floats away with the current. When a negative thought comes, recognize it for what it is and let it go."
Thanks for sharing:)
Nice post! Just read back through several of your posts. Your patience is amazing. I feel I've become more patient, but part of me wonders 'when is enough enough?' Ugh. It's so frustrating to me to be in a similar situation, and to feel like we are the ones who have been hurt, yet we have to be the healers. We have to coddle their depression or disorders .... But sometime I wanna yell 'what about me? What about the pain you've caused me!?' Isn't it ironic that WE have to be the strong ones? That we have to tip toe around their fragile egos or self esteem or abilities. It seems so unfair. And while I see being able to find some spiritual strengths and growth we might need by being patient and forgiving, sometimes it feels too much like martyrdom. Where's the line? ( I'm asking more for myself than I am projecting upon you! :)
ReplyDelete