Where to Start?
I guess every blog has a beginning (and quite possibly an end), but where does one start?
I should probably start with my inspiration. Many have people, places, objects, desires etc as their inspiration, yet for a very long time mine has been a poem....Rudyard Kipling's "If".
The poem was often recited to me by a person who influenced my life greatly. He was my first "real" boss (post university, I have a degree, I have a position title, I'm earning real money - boss). He would often recite it when talking about leadership and how we can be leaders in our day to day lives.
It has always struck a cord with me - why I still don't know.
The poem, simple in structure, is as relevent today as when it was first written in 1895. It is about being the best you can possibly be.
I hope that you enjoy and find inspiration from "If"
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!
I will talk more tomorrow about my journey to find the real me ... and why it is only beginning!!
I should probably start with my inspiration. Many have people, places, objects, desires etc as their inspiration, yet for a very long time mine has been a poem....Rudyard Kipling's "If".
The poem was often recited to me by a person who influenced my life greatly. He was my first "real" boss (post university, I have a degree, I have a position title, I'm earning real money - boss). He would often recite it when talking about leadership and how we can be leaders in our day to day lives.
It has always struck a cord with me - why I still don't know.
The poem, simple in structure, is as relevent today as when it was first written in 1895. It is about being the best you can possibly be.
I hope that you enjoy and find inspiration from "If"
If
If you can keep your head when all about youAre 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!
I will talk more tomorrow about my journey to find the real me ... and why it is only beginning!!
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