Ballooning over Paris - I. Lane
IF.....
Rudyard KiplingIF 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!
Sometimes when I gather material for Friday's fable, the theme can follow a few thoughts that have materialised over the week.
You need to be aware in the first instance that, at times, I can be less than educated on current events, the reason being that newspaper content can seriously get to me, so I don't read them very often.
However, earlier this week I began a hunt for the photographer of the Lewis Hamilton portrait I used for my drawing. Purely and simply, I wanted to add an addendum to my post to give credit where it is due (I haven't found out who it is yet). As I went on various sites I became aware of some less that pleasant comments made towards Mr Hamilton from, albeit small, a number of people. It struck me and saddened me that some people can dislike someone based on their popularity and talent.
As I was feeling very tired and negative earlier in the week, this along with a few other things made me question human nature, as you sometimes do.
So to counteract the negativity, towards the end of the week I chose a few blogs to read that really uplifted my spirits.. …yesterday I went and read the latest post "The Choice" on
Robin's blog for the second time. She is such a genuine person that she makes me feel "quite" cynical but if I sink into one of her posts, gradually my faith in human nature returns.
To follow it up, I spent some quality time with Andy and had a whole heap of fun with my son yesterday via text (and no Cal, you don't get 60 notes for a pair of trainers!).
The day was finalised by a gentleman at
Blog Catalogue adding me in as a friend. I went and checked out his blog which turned out to have a gallery section, which I always enjoy…..and I sent him a "shout". That if I asked nicely, would he mind if I used one of his images for a painting, I am always on the lookout for reference material. He immediately came back to me with a whole little section of photographs for me to use as I choose.
My faith in human nature was entirely restored *big huge smiles*. So today I started my day with a different attitude and as I drove into work, the sky was blue and there were two air balloons in the sky. All of a sudden I felt uplifted, just like the balloons.
I realised that my spirits had been lifted by random kindness and my thought for the day is that I wonder how much of it we could spread
IF we tried. Kindness is quite simply, much underrated.
P.S Steve of the
Steve Falcon blog, I thank you :D
I will add you to my blogroll later this evening.
