If-

A few weeks ago, I shared a poem with you all that inspires me daily - the Desiderata.

I'm back with another thought-provoking poem today - If-, by Rudyard Kipling.  

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Where the Desiderata is calm and soothing, this poem strikes hard and powerfully.  It's a fantastic motivator, pushing me to work harder in the gym, home, and office, to commit my all to healthy eating and life habits, to be a good person to my friends, family, and every stranger I meet, and to never, never, never give up.  

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I only have one qualm with this poem.  I wish the last line were gender neutral, since I feel somewhat odd proclaiming after a tough workout, "Yeah! I'm inspired!  I can do it!  I'm a MAN!," when, clearly, I am not.  However, it's understandable why Kipling drafted the poem the way he did - it was originally written as a tribute to the actions of a certain British soldier during  the late 1800s.  

Regardless, it's a beautiful, fiery, and inspiring poem, and will hopefully get you energized to take on the day as much as it does for me.

If-

Rudyard Kipling

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!
(Source)

Now, don't you feel empowered?  

Let's all go out and make something of ourselves today - and tomorrow - and every day!