Invictus by William Ernest Henley


This is a beautiful poem that inspired Mandela during his imprisonment.


Out of the night that covers me, Black as the Pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears Looms but the Horror of the shade, And yet the menace of the years Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate, How charged with punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul.


This poem inspires me because it is about freedom of the soul. No matter what challenges are put before us, we can overcome them if we have the will to do so. It is a poem of courage and conjures up strength to keep going. It's about never giving up!
Image courtesy Squidoo.com

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Beauty

Image
  How do you define beauty? Do you think that you really know what beauty is? Or do you let the daily barrage of what is fed to you through media define beauty for you?  Every culture tends to define it a little differently but textbook definition is that beauty generally is what is pleasing to the eye. That can vary from person to person. We should all know that true beauty goes beyond the skin's surface. Here is a good video called "The Evolution of Beauty". It shows how a woman is prepped for an ad campaign. I think it's very important for people to see especially young people who struggle with the whole notion that beauty should have a certain "look". Trying to model yourself up to images in the media can be a dangerous practice. Beauty comes in many forms. I like the video's message that every girl should feel beautiful. It's important to remember that not everything you see is truly as it appears.  My message is that beauty may b
Read more

Reality

Image
Skyrocketing prices in goods and services, joblessness, political battles, wars, natural disasters.  Day by day we all go head-to-head with our own personal challenges big and small. These are trying times. But observing how the Japanese people have reacted in the aftermath of the recent earthquake and tsunami really made me sit up and take notice.  There has been little if any looting and no rioting.  People wait in orderly lines outside stores and gas stations. They see the workers at the Fukushima nuclear plant who are trying to keep the plant from melting down as doing their job not as heroes like we might because they are risking their lives.  I did a little research and found out that the difference between American and Japanese culture is that Japanese culture encourages cooperation and discourages self-interest. It is deeply ingrained in them from birth.  Americans value self-determination, individuality, independence, and a strong sense of self, very much opp
Read more

Intuition

Image
The definition of intuition is the act or faculty of knowing or sensing without the use of rational processes; a perceptive insight. I refer to it as gut feelings or instinctive behavior.  An intuition can be a good or bad feeling or even an instantaneous response to something without knowing why. I dare to say that whenever I have acted (or not) on gut instinct I have rarely ever been steered wrong. So what's that all about and why don't we follow this more often? Well, for one thing, it isn't always seen as a rational act. It doesn't always make sense. But what I'm finding more and more as I get older and listen more to my innards, I trust that I have an innate ability to read situations and people with great accuracy. There have been times that I have been very compelled to do something for a reason that I couldn’t quite define that turned out to be a very smart move.  Honing in on this ability means being very in touch with yourself. Unfortunately there
Read more