For all the boys out there :)

[dont_know_what_2_say]

This is not mine! this is a poem by Rudyard 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 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

[Trip McNealy]

Nas used that last verse at the beginning of the video for "Made You look" I believe.

 

If anyone here actually listens to Nas.

[Confuzeled]

But it's impossible. Nobody can do all that. Not all the time. We are human not superheroes. Unrealistic expectations and pressures from society cause men to turn to violence because they're not allowed to be seen as week.

Why isn't there a line that says 'If you can cry in public and not feel shame.'?

[agent1607307371]

Such a good poem, it's the Stoic ideal.

 

 

And confuzzled - it was written in the 1890s. Victorian men (and women) didn't cry in public. The stiff upper lip you know.

[dont_know_what_2_say]

But it's impossible. Nobody can do all that. Not all the time. We are human not superheroes. Unrealistic expectations and pressures from society cause men to turn to violence because they're not allowed to be seen as week.

Why isn't there a line that says 'If you can cry in public and not feel shame.'?

I think that some of the things it mentions in the poem are good advice.

 

Understand that there are things that are not in your control, and not get all worked up over it but rather "let it go" and work on things you CAN fix.

it also talks about not giving up and persevering during tough times, this is all good humanly possible things..

nothing about supernatural powers or anything.

it's about honesty and dedication, and humility and other things, that I think anyone is able to do...

either way don't feel that whatever this poem says goes, and if you don't accomplish all of it then you're not a man.

everyone is different, it more or less tells you to be the best you can be.

 

p.s. that last line sounded like an army commercial

[FarthestEdge]

Wow. just. Wow.

 

I love this. I am printing out copies on nice paper, framing it and putting it in both my sons rooms.

 

I was raised looking at copies of the Desiderata growing, up, and I knew a lot of it by heart before I even understood it. In fact I remember getting really frustrated that I couldn't understand it. But it's become a cornerstone of my character in a lot of ways, to remind me of who I intend to be.

 

NO - No one can be and do all things, but to STRIVE to be the best you can be at all times, that's how you grow. Besides, a lot of this is about character, inner strength and holding true to yourself and your values. The more you do insist on doing it, the easier it is to do. What's more, in the end, you can look yourself in the mirror, and know you like who you are...

 

LOVE IT. Thanks for sharing!

[DN]

There are things in that poem that apply to women as much as to men.

[dont_know_what_2_say]

There are things in that poem that apply to women as much as to men.

Definitely

anyone could benefit from this.

 

FarthestEdge, it really reminds me of Desiderata as well. My ex introduced me to that poem and it's very inspiring! it really is all about trying to be your best, and "striving to be happy"