"If" - by Rudyard Kipling

Just had to post this well-known and awesome poem that gives me tons of inspiration whenever I need it (and has even more meaning for me now that I have a four month old son...). Also took the liberty of highlighting my favorite parts -- specially the part about triumph and disaster has to be some of the greatest poetry ever written, IMHO:

"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!

         By Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936).

The battle between the two wolves in our minds

Many of you have seen this very short story before, but I just came across it again this past weekend and thought that it's worth mentioning again. It has a way of popping up at the right times in my life, and I certainly benefit greatly every time I see it:

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes
on inside people. He said, "My son, the battle is between 2 wolves.

One is Evil. It is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance,
self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride,
superiority, and ego.

The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility,
kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and
faith."

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his
grandfather, "Which wolf wins?"

The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."

The art of making a little Sunday every day

While researching the Czech word "usebrání" for a translation project, I came across a delightful article in Czech called "The Art of Making Sundays". The article mentions an old grandmother from Moravia who used to say that "Everybody should make a little bit of Sunday everyday." I was captivated by the introduction, so I started to read on...

She didn't mean Sunday as a metaphor for being lazy, for doing nothing; she meant Sunday as a special day for cleansing the soul from routine, thoughtless moments that can settle on the soul until they suffocate it. Sunday from the perspective of that grandmother from Moravia was a sort of wise spa that is applied to the soul and washes it.

And it's good to find a little bit of such a Sunday in every day. A little bit of time when the soul rests ABOVE its regular worries, when it tries to look at things it did not notice before. Looking back can also be looking ahead, as a lookback frequently brings wisdom, ideas, protection (like a driver looking into the rearview mirror so that he can drive forward more safely...). Sometimes a little bit of Sunday can be enough.

But this little bit of Sunday won't happen by itself. We have to make an active effort. And it may turn out that if we do make this effort to make a little Sunday every day, we'll be able to see that this isn't a world doesn't give enough, it may turn out that we'll see that we're also living in a world of overlooked gifts...

Anyhow, how about trying living one week with a little bit of Sunday every day? Sounds good to me...

And for the sake of completion, it turns out that the Czech word from the first sentence means something like "contemplation, inner contemplation reflection, self-reflection, recollection...". Quite fitting :-)

The three keys to health

I was just going over the many notes I've made over the past several years on human happiness, and I found Dan Millman's "Three Keys to Health" as some of the most important stuff I have ever come across. The notes are from one of Dan's seminars I attended in Prague a couple of years ago, which was definitely a good investment. I mention them here because there is a direct link to happiness - it's much easier to be happy, when we are healthy!

So here we go with Dan's three keys to health:

1) regular moderate exercise: stretch, move, breathe - your body is designed to move and needs it! People today move much less than people in the past, when physical work was much more the norm.
2) well-balanced diet: is different for everyone, we all need to find what is right for us - trust the body!
3) enough rest: getting enough sleep (ideally while its dark outside), relaxation, fun...

I'll close today's brief post with another thing Dan likes to say: "it's simple, but are you doing it"?

Homeopathy A&E - hilarious spoof

Must admit I've never heard of them, but this is a funny spoof. Apparently it comes from the fourth episode of a series three of 'That Mitchell and Webb Look.'



For the record, I am for homeopathy, but only as practised by medical doctors in addition to their "standard" practice. In fact, I would only go an "alternative" practitioner if he/she has a completed medical (or similar) background. But that's just cautious and conservative me...

Making things fun can lead to positive behavior changes!

So somebody in Sweden wanted more people to take the regular stairs instead of the escalator next to them. Here's how they did it:

Today I'm Gonna Try and Change the World - Johnny Reid

Wow - a most wonderfully uplifting song by this Scottish born Canadian singer:



Written by Johnny Reid and Brent Maher, available on the "A Place Called Love" CD, released in 2010.