If

As I've said before, I've written blog posts that intend to create a response in my few readers - I'm going to try something different here - I'm going to give you guys something that isn't mine that will hopefully bring you to extreme thought. This poem is called "If" 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 imposters 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-tos,
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!

-Rudyard Kipling

I think that the message of this poem is pretty clear - if we can be [this] despite [that], then we can achieve anything in this world. I especially love the penultimate line and the feeling that comes with thinking that yours is the Earth, and everything that's in it. I wish the last line ended with a period instead of an exclamation point, however. As much as I love exclaiming, I love ending epic things with periods more. Just imagine the end of a House episode where House is staring off into the distance as the last note of the indie rock character montage rings resonantly. That's what I hope happened to you after you finished the poem. You stared off into the distance, wondering about your life. Perhaps you don't do this frequently enough. If that's the case, then keep in mind that there are always things to give you a push in the right direction.