I am nearly done raising a man on my own. I am proud of my accomplishment, because I think that for the most part, I am doing pretty ok, for being a single mom. Of course no one is perfect, and he is a teen, so he is still growing as a man and as a person. The other day, I read this poem to him and told him that to say that you are a "real man" there are certain qualities you should possess. I told him, that a "real man" should live an honorable life and should do right by others.
I love the poem below, it is what I think of when I think of a "real man" or "real woman" of course no one will ever be this perfect as we are human and have feelings to deal with. Sometimes, like today when I feel like people have done me really really wrong, I read it and reflect, and try to live by it. It helps me in controlling my negative feelings that do not serve any good purpose in my life.
This poem most definitely has to be on my blog.
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IF - By Rudyard Kipling
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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!
I love the poem below, it is what I think of when I think of a "real man" or "real woman" of course no one will ever be this perfect as we are human and have feelings to deal with. Sometimes, like today when I feel like people have done me really really wrong, I read it and reflect, and try to live by it. It helps me in controlling my negative feelings that do not serve any good purpose in my life.
This poem most definitely has to be on my blog.
**********************************************************************************
IF - By Rudyard Kipling
**********************************************************************************
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!
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