If...

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 wornout 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 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!



~Kipling

The Difference

While walking along a beach, an elderly gentleman saw someone in the distance leaning down, picking something up and throwing it into the ocean.


As he got closer, he noticed that the figure was that of a young man, picking up starfish one by one and tossing each one gently back into the water.


He came closer still and called out, “Good morning! May I ask what it is that you are doing?”

The young man paused, looked up, and replied “Throwing starfish into the ocean.”


The old man smiled, and said, “I must ask, then, why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?”

To this, the young man replied, “The sun is up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them in, they’ll die.”


Upon hearing this, the elderly observer commented, “But, young man, do you not realize that there are miles and miles of beach and there are starfish all along every mile? You can’t possibly help them all!”


The young man listened politely. Then he bent down, picked up another starfish, threw it back into the ocean past the breaking waves and said, “It made a difference for that one.”

It's A Carnival

Everywhere I turn something is different... Some kids are eating cotton candy and some are crying cause they dropped the top scoop of their icecream cone and some rides are being repaired and the ferris wheel has a really long line and some people just want to eat or play in the arcade. Some couple is holding hands and some employee is cleaning the grounds and birds, birds are flying above and some clouds are puffy and white and some are dark and dismal and noise is everywhere at this carnival and in the midst of it all there is a photographer taking pictures of different sights and attractions and groups of people and there are firebreathing performers and clown jugglers and mimes who say not a word yet their body language says everything.

and it's unreal how the sounds from the chatting and the screaming and the laughing all blend together to form the response to this one seemingly simple attraction

It's unreal to see everyone's face... to see their enjoyment and the immensity of it all....

It's unreal to see these fairgrounds being used for the benefit of society whether it's for relief, fun, excitement, meeting others, or winning some prize.

It's unreal but it's happening simultaneously and here i am, waiting at the top of the of the shakiest rollercoaster of them all... the slow ride up was pretty intimidating-this seat is cold and the buckles don't seem as tight as they should be...not to mention, not many people have ever even dared to ride before... I can almost see the whole park from up here- The initial and steepest drop is only seconds away and i can feel my seat edging over as a teaser... There's nothing I can do to prepare for these coming corkscrews, loops, quick turns, and drops and I wonder what my picture will look like half way through the ride...All i can do is make sure i'm strapped in, hold my breath, raise my hands up high, laugh for comic relief and hereee weee .....

"Ring Ring"

There is a call to see something more important than what I've already seen before. To feel something more meaningful. To be something more encompassing. This presses me to continuously press on. That is the wind that hits my sails.

Verbal Slave Drivers

putting a limitation on another is what slavery is all about.

People are often verbally enslaved by others. Enslavers will use phrases like "you will never blank" or "you are this" or "you don't blank."

If one doesn't have a firm grasp on what they truly are, they can easily be verbally enslaved by taking phrases like those listed above to heart.

Verbal enslavers believe they know what they are saying is right without a shadow of a doubt. OR, they know what they are saying isn't true, but say it as a means of control or to watch negative effects on another. Thus they are the types of people who will argue until they get the "last word."In all reality, the enslavers are the ones enslaved. They feel hurt and limited and feel the need to take that out on others.

A victim of this abuse can only look away and smile, appear dumb and belittled to the enslaver, but be free mentally and emotionally.

Stressfull Why?

when in this position, no one can see me even wince. Nobody is allowed to see me tear up. I can't rest my head in public. I feel overwhelmed. I feel paranoid. I feel pressured beyond belief. But i can deal with it alone. It's everything thrown into the mix that throws me off balance.

The broken bike. No car. No money. No job. feeling hopeless for all thee above.

And i just kissed the sun. I feel burned and branded. Now i'm afraid of only losing it all. What a terrible way to live. Out of fear of losing what you work so hard to claim. On one hand, I have it all... on the other i have nothing.

I feel undefined. I feel like a piece of garbage sometimes. Easily dispensable and discarded.

I encourage everyone else... who is here to encourage me? When i feel like giving up. When i feel hopeless. When my world is distorted and nothing makes sense anymore and everything i thought was isn't and everything i thought wasn't is.

But alas, nobody can see me like this... and nobody will. I'm bigger than that. At least that's what i'm supposed to be.

Action Reaction

Flatter me, and I may not believe you.
Criticize me, and I may not like you.
Ignore me, and I may not forgive you.
Encourage me, and I will not forget you.
Love me and I may be forced to love you.

-William Arthur Ward