I just came across this inspirational poem by Rudyard Kipling, someone who I haven’t had the pleasure of reading until now.

What a pleasant surprise to discover that Mr Kipling not only made exceedingly good cakes but also imparted wisdom to the rest of us through his beautiful poems…or am I getting confused between two different Kiplings altogether?

Not to worry, I still love what both Kiplings have produced for my mind and stomach.

IF
By 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!

In Context

“If— is a notable poem by Rudyard Kipling. It was written in 1895; the poem was first published in the Brother Square Toes chapter of Rewards and Fairies, Kipling’s 1910 collection of short stories and poems. Like William Ernest Henley’s Invictus, it is a memorable evocation of Victorian stoicism and the “stiff upper lip” that popular culture has made into a traditional British virtue. Its status is both confirmed by the number of parodies it has inspired, and by the widespread popularity it still draws amongst Britons (it was voted Britain’s favourite poem in a 1995 BBC opinion poll).

According to Kipling in his autobiography Something of Myself (1937), the poem was inspired by Dr Leander Starr Jameson, who in 1895 led a raid by British forces against the Boers in South Africa, subsequently called the Jameson Raid. This defeat increased the tensions that ultimately led to the Second Boer War. The British press, however, portrayed Jameson as a hero in the middle of the disaster, and the actual defeat as a British victory.”

~Excerpted from If— on Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

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3. Quotes of Inspirational Wisdom by James Allen
4. Stop Procrastinating Now! Invoke Action to Make a Creative Life
5. Take Courage to Perform Wise Actions Against Fear – Part 2

This terrifying day comes but once a year, but some of us wish it wasn’t so
Because those us with a nervous disposition, face the day with a frown and fro

This day is maybe one, but there are those who relive this dreadful fright
Which haunts their minds and their sight, of every day and every night

How does one remove this persistent malady, which affects their mood and their very life
Does one shout “begone my fear!” then hide under the covers
Or does one look for comfort by telling others

“No!” I say, look deep into yourselves, and you will dare to find
A joyful child blooms inside, who likes to dance and sing a rhyme

Become a child like the generation today, who face the 31st with excited haste
So why not dress up like a monster, and make-up an ugly face
Ready to go out into the dark, because tonight is Halloween
Without any fear or any worry,  it’s a tremendous joy to be seen

“Trick or Treat!” you shout and scream, as you wait with baited breath for what will be next
But it matters not what eventually comes, as you will never be scared nor even vexed

The reason why for your happy mood
is that you have turned this fearful day into a delightful tune
That is the lesson that everyone can learn
You must face your fears or you’ll get burn

Heed me now as I’ll leave you all, with some good advice
Listen closely before you go, to become witches, ghosts or ghouls of vice

I say, “Learn from the child
which will give you a smile
A wise course of action
against this evil infraction”

You must conquer your fears, by becoming your fears themselves
Although your mind, must go through many delves

You’ll sure to discover a happy life, with much wealth & sunny health
But be sure to remind and shout “Happy Halloween!”, every now and again, to your very self

Related posts:

1. Poetic Wisdom: ‘If’ by Rudyard Kipling
2. Take Courage to Perform Wise Actions Against Fear – Part 3
3. Take Courage to Perform Wise Actions Against Fear – Part 2
4. Take Courage to Perform Wise Actions Against Fear – Part 1