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 and 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!"
-If by Rudyard Kipling.
If (careful now!) there has been a poem written that illustrates perfectly the manner in which I aspire to conduct myself in every day life then the above surely must be it.
Kipling, in later years became the subject of criticism because it was perceived by some that his poetry was lacking in intellectual depth. Personally I think that "If", at least, has enough to teach the everyday person as regards integrity, being humble and how to be a decent soul with a bit of self belief that I couldn't care less about it's complexity or lack thereof. It's just a great, life affirming, fear abating poem and it is one that I revisit often especially in times of strife.
I have a funeral to attend tomorrow and reciting this poem has helped me face what must be done.
