My Current Theme Poem (If by Rudyard Kipling)

A good friend sent me this poem to me and it had so many rings of truth for me. My theme song this year is “Life is Real” by Ayo. I think this will be my theme poem.

The full poem is below, but here are some lines that just touched me:

“If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you” . . . over the years I have learned the value of trusting yourself. This has been a constant struggle for me. I was in a very bad relationship at one point that lasted for three years and after that I had a hard time learning to trust myself and my judgment.

“If you can wait and not be tired by waiting” . . . it is not just about waiting but not getting tired of the waiting! Wow! I told a friend awhile ago . . . ‘I am going to wait.’ It is not always easy to wait. Wait for dreams to be realized. Wait for the right person to enter your life. I continue to wait and enjoy the process of waiting and not tire of waiting! That is the goal!

“Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken, And stoop and build ‘em up with worn-out tools” . . . this part breaks my heart as I think of people who refuse to give up despite the challenges. To give your whole life to something and still be willing when to “stoop” and build them up again with the last bit of energy you have left! This is perseverance! To be of this character . . . never ever never ever give up!

“Or walk with kings–nor lose the common touch” . . . humility in artists is something I truly admire. If you can have a ‘gift’ so special that people treat you as if you are a king, but you prefer to dine at the table of those people would call commoners and refer to them as noble men and woman . . . your gift is real treasure and will far out last silver and gold!

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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 and build ‘em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all 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