The Beauty and Powerful messages within "If"

I discovered the poem, "If" By Rudyard Kipling in high school. I remember taping it on my door and finding solace in the poem during trials or moments when I needed encouragement. Tonight, when I read "If" I asked myself if Rudyard was a prayerful man? He must be because when you analyze the poem, most of the concepts have to do with patience, fortitude, and embracing a virtuous life instead of letting the world penetrate you to the degree that one might act on instinct, urges, thoughts, and feelings. He reminds us that "manning up" and becoming the bigger person entails thought and reflection before action, ingredients to making sound decisions. Additionally, he acknowledges "the fall" doesn't he? And what does he recommend? Perseverance and Fortitude. In our daily trials, how many of us can actually say, I lost my life completely today, I 100% percent lost everything I built? The answer is rarely. So really, we should practice and re-read "If" because he is promoting a type of awareness, and self knowledge and awareness of ones being, one's conscience, and others that we truly thirst. Our world is filled with earthly desires, love of self, and people who think they are doing things right, but in reality, they are not virtuous and in turn their vices take over. Pride is the worst vice. It is also the most common. We need to rip ourselves of pride and practice true love of God. Endurance and faith also shine through in Kipling's poem because he writes about very challenging situations and enduring them, but seeing the light and acting justly, humbly, and very patiently through difficult situations. When I reflect on how important it is to do this in my life right now, I know that prayer certainly helps you when you feel your burdens getting heavier and heavier and someone just drops everything on you all at once. Prayer is how you persevere and putting into action the perspective that everything is going to be okay :-) Eternal life is just around the corner; a life that we almost crave sometimes in our world surrounded by man and his flaws. But, we never lose hope and we will deal with things properly if we practice the above items. Balance. No wonder I'm a libra... ;-)

If—

                                                                     BY RUDYARD KIPLING

(‘Brother Square-Toes’—Rewards and Fairies)

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!