I have been reading a lot of poetry lately. What follows is a piece of verse that I read a long ago but that I had long forgotten.

I’ve always loved the idea of coming of age and what it means to be a man. This poem touches both of those ideas perfectly. Hopefully, if you haven’t read it, you enjoy it as much as I have.

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.

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Josh