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The If Project takes the text of Rudyard Kipling’s poem “If” and breaks it down into digestible chunks of wisdom. Each week, we’ll take a few lines of the poem and focus on the life lessons and behaviors Kipling puts forth as empowering.
This is a mindfulness practice, which will help you consciously build better behavioral habits pertaining to interpersonal interactions and other areas of your life.
For reference, the entire poem is included at the bottom of this post.
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The lines for week six are:
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…
A fundamental truth of the mythic hero’s journey is the need to take risks. It is risky to step beyond one’s known world, one’s comfort zone, and try new thoughts, beliefs, and actions. When doing so, you risk stirring up the doubt and opposition of others, as well as the chance of failure. We must be willing to take risks if we want to change, grow, and pursue new goals. You usually cannot achieve new things with the same old thinking.
You must break routines and ruts! Steer clear of risk aversion. This doesn’t mean you must always take HUGE risks. Very often, the path to success is lined with many small, calculated risks rather than the win-or-lose, all-or-nothing chances that will leave you devastated. Failure is part of the iterative process. Don’t ignore or deny that you’ve failed, because that will keep you from learning valuable lessons that will help you improve before your next attempt!
A caveat: If you keep failing at something, it might be time to change tactics! Don’t beat your head against the same wall over and over. Change things up! Never forget that failure and success are bound together, two sides of the same coin. You can’t have one without the other. And while you’re on the path, don’t fail prey to chronic complaining and worry. These will sidetrack you and sap the energy you should be using to reach your goals.
So, take some chances! Be persistent! Don’t give up!
Please be sure to leave comments to share your experiences during this “applied humanities” project, and tell others about this series!
Remember: this series is part of my effort to spread the word about applied humanities, which involves the active use of literature and other art forms to practically and positively influence everyday behavior. Ultimately, the humanities can be consumed passively or actively, but either way, they can remind us what it means to be human, as well as everyday heroes.
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If, by Rudyard Kipling
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!
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A version of this article was originally published at livethehero.com
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