"If" by Rudyard Kipling

I'm not sure what the rights are to this particular poem, so I will link to it rather than copying and pasting it here. I randomly stumbled upon this tonight and it seems so relevant and inspiring to our journey to being benzo-free (and to life in general). I hope you enjoy it as much as I did:

 

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/175772

I love this poem too, I find myself referring to it often when I feel weary or discouraged.

 

My dad taught us this poem when we were kids, he lived his life by it.

 

Thanks for sharing it! It's a wonderful poem.

 

Chinook 

Read it several times, and will come back and read it, very inspiring, thank you.

This is my favorite poem. This line goes through my head a lot:

 

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!’

Beautiful 

My joint favourite poem! There are three. If by Rudyard Kipling, Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll and Dulce et Decorum est by Wilfred Owen.

If you like 'If', there is a strong chance that you will like Desiderata by Max Ehrmann. Hope you like it!

Great...Thank you for posting 

My joint favourite poem! There are three. If by Rudyard Kipling, Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll and Dulce et Decorum est by Wilfred Owen.

If you like 'If', there is a strong chance that you will like Desiderata by Max Ehrmann. Hope you like it!

 

The Desiderata is another huge favorite of mine. It's both comforting and motivating. These parts are especially close to my heart:

 

"Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with imaginings.

Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.

 

You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars;

you have a right to be here.

And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should."

 

and "With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world."

 

--So even with the suckatude of wd, there is still beauty and purpose. Don't feed the fears (wolf story) and practice self-compassion. Such wisdom for all of us.

Holy WOW.

thanks

I'm extremely late replying to this but I am so happy that it resonated with a lot of you too! Desiderata is indeed a favorite of mine, in fact I have it in illustrated book form and I read it as often as I remember to. Reading in general has been a great relief to me as I'm going through this process with the benzos.

 

I love Kipling. Mom read it to me every night when I was a rug rat. I also love Lewis Carroll........That's why I have it in my sig....

Thank you

Love this poem. First discovered it during uni on the wall of some youth hostel in Rome.