One of my favourite poems...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 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!

by Rudyard Kipling

This poem shows how we should face problems and maintain calm in crisis. It tests our intengrity and character. Sometimes in life we find ourselves in a really critical situation but how we face them defines which type of person we are.

The conjunction "if" is being used to give examples of circumstances and how we should react. It mentions that in life it is important to believe in ourselves even when others don't, but at the same time try to understand why and learn from constructive criticism.

There was a time in my life that I had been betrayed and lied, and I thought that there was no benefit from being honest and a caring person because people would use you anyways. I wanted to be dishonest and shady because I felt like those people would always get away with anything. I was wrong and I thank God I wasn't weak enough to follow that thought. However, even the purest soul need to be astute.

I can truly say that the poem tells us how to deal with life, how to confront disasters, how to manage failures and turn into winnings, how to have faith, how to be humble and how to be a better human.

When my dad first showed me this poem, I couldnt understand some of the messages within but now I can...


Photo credit: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/rudyard-kipling