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!

Having lain awake most of the night thinking about what I wanted to say, battling with my own darker emotions in order to be the better man, this poem suddenly came to mind as I showered this morning. It is one of my very favourites because I truly believe that it sums up man's condition beautifully.

It tells about our frailties and our capacity to chose for good and evil - how man can be a monster when he wants to be, but how it is also possible to rise above all adversities and be the better person.

Why yesterday when a woman came to me in the car park asking if I could change 5 euros for her, and I couldn't, that I gave her my ticket to use instead.

Why people tread over other people's feelings with feet of lead instead of just taking another step to the side and leaving them alone.

Why we chose to protect our loved ones with all our might so that they may be safe.

Why we give our very last ounce if it means someone else can live.

Why we sometimes just have to be patient and wait for the right moment to act because if we don't, the consequences of those actions will be beyond our comprehension and will result in something far removed from the plan one had in mind.

Why we have to be true to our inner voice, to remain the person we know we are under any circumstances, and not give in to wrongful thoughts and actions.

It takes incredible willpower and strength, make no mistake about that!! But without this creed, who are we? What makes us better than any other species? Where does the difference lie between man and beast? Why should man inherit the earth if he is incapable of caring for it?..............

So I am a philosopher at heart. I know I am. I think deep and sometimes impossible thoughts about so many things, and I search for the answers in the dark recesses of my mind. I get lots wrong! But it doesn't stop me questioning who I am and what my purpose on this earth, in this life, is. I think I know......................and although it doesn't make it any easier knowing, it steers my path and makes the road less travelled the one I have to take.

Sue xx