beginning well they say is half the job done...so im starting this new year with a post that will be a constant reminder to myself ... that nothing is impossible.
this was one of nelson mandela;s favourite poems. after 27 years of darkness if he could keep the faith and keep going...i have really no reason to whine all the time.
INVICTUS
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud,
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul
- William Ernest Henley
have a great year and yes....keep those dreams alive. you never know when they'll come true and ul go WOOOHOOOOOO ;)
m
Without a doubt the poem is brilliant! But it is probably more applicable to mandela whose circumstances were a bit extreme. Here is one of my favourites; you probably have to substitue the word "man" and "son" with "woman" and "daughter" for it to apply to you.
ReplyDeleteits titled If by Rudyar Kipling
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 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!
So keep blogging!
dave
this poem really must apply....since its not the first time ive been "given" this poem! i love it...
ReplyDeletehad it written on my wall when i went to cardiff :) think wil stick up there again!