Wednesday, July 30, 2008

If One Can Do It...

This won't be news for many, but it will be news for some, it was new to me and for someone out there it will be new to you.
So this is for you:




That was the beginning. Here's the happy ending.

Sometimes, if we keep looking, we can find dreams that do come true.


"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 all 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!

Rudyard Kipling

[hat tip to Shooting Star for the inspiring video]

3 comments:

Findalis said...

When I first heard him sing about a year ago I knew that I was hearing a wonderful singer. I haven't been disappointed yet.

Thanks. He was wonderful.

Charles Henry said...

Yes, he's certainly a great talent.
I can't understand a word of what he's singing, and it still affects me..!

Did you watch him on the show when it was first on? That must have been an amazing surprise.

Eowyn said...

Ah, Charles Henry -- thanks so much for the link on Paul's "happy ending" -- happy indeed, and I'm thrilled for him!

Here are the lyrics of the "Nessun Dorma" aria, which are lovely in themselves, but coupled with the music, are, I believe, divinely inspired:

"Nobody shall sleep!...
Nobody shall sleep!
Even you, o Princess,
in your cold room,
watch the stars,
that tremble with love and with hope.
But my secret is hidden within me,
my name no one shall know...
No!...No!...
On your mouth I will tell it when the light shines.
And my kiss will dissolve the silence that makes you mine!...
(No one will know his name and we must, alas, die.)
Vanish, o night!
Set, stars! Set, stars!
At dawn, I will win! I will win! I will win!"

I believe moments in time, like Paul Potts pursuing his dream, clearly show our loving God at work, if quietly and subtly. I further believe they're everywhere, only we don't know where to look.

Thanks for the hat tip, too :o)