IF

If you can keep your head when all about you

Are losing theirs and blaming 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 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!

Rudyard Kipling  ( 1865 - 1936 )

FOOTPRINTS

One night I had a dream.

I dreamed I was walking along the beach with God and across the sky flashed scenes from my life. For each scene I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand; one belonged to me and the other to God.

When the last scene of my life flashed before me, I looked back at the sand and noticed that at times along the path of life there was only one set of footprints.

I also noticed that it happened at the very Lowest and saddest times of my life. This worried me and I questioned God about it:

" God, You said that once I decided to follow You, You would walk with me all the way, But I noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life, there was only one set of footprints. I don't understand why, in times when I needed You most, You would leave me"

God replied, "My precious, precious child, I Love you and I would never, never leave you during your times of trials and suffering.

When you saw only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you."

                                          Anonymous

THE INDISPENSABLE MAN

One day when you're feeling important

One day when your ego's in bloom

One day when you take it for granted

You're the most qualified man in the room.

One day when you feel that your going

Would leave an unfilled hole

Just follow these simple instructions

And see how it humbles your soul.

Take a bucket and fill it with water.

Put your hands in it up to your wrists.

Pull them out - and the hole that is left there

Is a measure of how you'll be missed.

You may splash all you please as you enter

You may stir up the water galore

But stop - and you'll find in a minute

That it looks just the same as before.

The moral of this is quite simple,

Just do the best that you can,

Be proud of yourself, but remember -

There is no INDISPENSABLE man

Author unknown

Burial prayer of the native American Indian  Makah tribe

Do not stand at my grave and weep;

I am not there. I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that blow.

I am the diamond glints on snow.

I am the sunlight on ripened grain.

I am the gentle autumn rain.

When you awaken in the mornings’ hush

I am the swift uplifting rush

Of quiet birds in circled flight.

I am the soft stars  that shine at night.

Do not stand at my grave and cry;

I am not there, I did not die.

“  It’s easy enough to be happy

When life goes along like a song

But a man’s worthwhile

When he can smile

When everything’s going wrong”

Adolph Hitler 1945

Finding Peace

Old man walking

Pacing steps of peace

Old man talking

Speaking words of peace

Old man listening

Hearing sounds of peace

Old man watching

Seeing signs of peace

Old man greeting

Meeting souls in peace

Old man singing

Tuning his heart to peace

Old man dancing

Moving through moments of peace

Old man living

Breathing breaths of peace

Old man being

Living his dying in peace

Healing is Revealing

Each cell knows the story

The misunderstood tale

The growing is physical

Upon a huge scale

Healing is revealing

New perception on a feeling

A feeling of frustration

To emotion and elation

Each cell knows the story

The misunderstood tale

The growing is spiritual

Upon a huge scale

Healing is revealing

New perception on a feeling

Moving attention

To the next dimension

The truth about reality

Emerging with clarity

Crystal clear and kind

A powerful use of mind

Healing is revealing

New perception on a feeling

Crystal clear clarity

Unconditional charity

Jed Brignal