If...

Today I have another poem to share with you. I received this in an email last week. It brought back memories of my senior year of high school. We all had to memorize this poem for English. As I was backing out of our parking spot Saturday after the parade I turned and saw a familiar face. I pulled back into the spot, jumped out and ran over to hug my English teacher. It was great to see her! So aftter getting this poem and seeing my former teacher Saturday I've really been thinking a lot about senior English!


It is really a great poem with so much truth, and it is a good one for students to memorize in my opinion.

If

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 imposters 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 breath 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!
~~Rudyard Kipling

I could think of various real life experiences as I read this poem. How did I handle the situation? Could I have handled it better? True character is shown in how we handle the hard times as well as prosperity and what we do about the rude comments made behind our backs or the lies told about us. Do you stay true to your morals no matter who you are with or do you change based on your company?

I hope this poem gives you a little bit to think about today. Thanks for visiting!
~~~~~
"The Lord is good, a strong refuge when trouble comes. He is close to those who trust in him." Nahum 1:7, NLT