Life seems so hard at times, especially when things don’t go the way we would like them to; and this phenomenon happens more often than not. But, it is the ability to overcome these problems that allow us to come back bigger and stronger.
Rudyard Kipling, a British writer during the first world war wrote a poem called 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 wornout 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!
This piece of poetry is very inspiring, because it almost flawlessly describes the intricate nature of being the perfect gentleman. There are some lines that especially capture my attention:
If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
So many people idolize dreaming, so many people are lost deep in thought, but the ones that can manipulate them into matter, becomes man and embodies the greater qualities of human nature. Some people take so much pride in themselves, speaking boldly and reflecting deeply, but these are people who have made thoughts their aim, they want to delude people by an illusion of intellect, but evidently, what they do is essentially simply a waste of time. I actually remember vividly, that in England in the Elizabethan era, people who were deep in thought were valued for their so called “melancholy”, supposedly caused by an excess of black bile in their system according to the science of their era.
Tolerance, is something that is so well described in this poem:
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
But what these two lines may also point to accepting different people’s opinion and showing a sense of humility.
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise
Essentially saying not to be pompous, not to be a “show-off”, and this pointing to humbleness.
And never breath a word about your loss
Acceptance; you do not complain about life. Often, I have seen people talk of their grievances, talk of what they have lost in their lives and how hard they have worked to come where they are today. The suppression of emotion is strong here, the very idea to be contempt with loss and to keep it within yourself would be a great feat to accomplish for any human being.
But, perhaps there is a bigger sentiment that Kipling tries to point to. Perhaps, its rather the journey towards gaining all that wealth and splendor, and the fact that you understand that it is not what happens in the end that you really enjoy, it’s the journey towards it.
Or perhaps, alluring to the sense that you can both live with being greatly achieved and losing everything. Clinging on to life none the less.
A truly motivating poem. I hope it inspired you like it did me.
