If

yabapmatt(71)

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#poetry

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I’ve been really busy with development work for a while now (and probably will be for a while more), so I thought it might be good to take a little break from the coding and share a different kind of post.

I would like to share my favorite poem with all of you. It is “If” by Rudyard Kipling. Despite being written in 1895, I think there are a lot of lessons we can still learn from it today. Even specifically around our interactions on SteemIt.com.

Anyway, without further ado, I give you - “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!

Take a minute and let it sink in. Read it again if you would like. These are words I try to always keep in the back of my mind, and ideals by which I try to live my life.

Imagine if everyone in the world (or even just everyone here, to start) thought and acted like Kipling suggests. There wouldn’t be any scammers, or spammers, or fighting, lying or hatred. There wouldn’t be such a sense of entitlement towards post rewards or so many people who give up after one setback.

It’s really hard to remain calm when you’re in the heat of the moment. Maybe someone wrote scathing personal attacks in a comment on your post because they don’t agree with what you’ve written. Or maybe someone called you a scammer or a fraud because your bot software missed their bid (this happened to me just this morning and it turns out the guy actually got his vote).

But in that moment, try to remember that “If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you” and if you are “being hated, don’t give way to hating”. If you can do those things you will be a better person, and help make the world a slightly better place.

While STEEM and SBD prices are going up and up everything might be all sunshine and roses, but what happens if prices start dropping?

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;

Will you be the one angry and complaining or will you pick up and start again at your beginnings? Again, it’s hard - I’m a complainer by nature - but I try to keep these words in mind and heed their advice.

What do you guys think? What are your favorite passages? How do you think Kipling's words can apply in today's world? Let me know in the comments!

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