My recent post on Carpe Diem reminded me of of this ancient Sanskrit poem:
Look to this day!
For it is life, the very life of life.
In its brief course
Lie all the truths and realities of existence:The joy of growth,
The splendor of action,
The glory of power.For yesterday is but a memory,
And tomorrow is only a vision;
But today, well lived, makes every yesterday
a memory of happiness,
And every tomorrow a vision of hope.
Look well, therefore, to this day!
It’s one of my favorite poems, but I have to admit, I like the T-shirt slightly better.
Do you have any favorite poems? Favorite T-shirts?
December 5, 2014
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!
~ Rudyard Kipling
Yes! I memorized that poem when I was a kid — it was one of my favorites. From time to time I still think of it.
I love the tee-shirt!!! I think it would be a fave of mine if it were in my drawer!!!!!
I also love the poem. Mindfulness.
I love them too! I may buy myself the T-shirt and wear it to the gym.
i’ve always like the saying . . .
“i’d like to be the kind of person my dog thinks i am.”
🙂
If only we could be. 🙂