Today is May 21st, 2011. This is the day Harold Camping, a Christian radio talk show host has predicted that the world will end. With this in mind, I thought I would share some favorite poems for when you’re having a tough day in the field.
TO RISK by William Ward adapted by Theodore “Moon” Mullen
To weep is to risk appearing sentimental.
To reach out for another is to risk involvement.
To place your ideas, dreams, before the crowd is to risk loss.
To love is to risk not being loved in return.
To live is to risk dying.
To hope is to risk despair.
To try at all is to risk failure
But to risk we must, because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.
The man, woman, who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing, is nothing.
Don’t fear criticism. The galleries are full of critics. They play no ball, they fight no fights, they make no mistakes because they attempt nothing. Down in the arena are the doers. They make mistakes because they attempt many things. Be real and be yourself, at home, at work, at church, and at play.
THE MAN IN THE GLASS by Peter "Dale" Wimbrow, Sr.
When you get what you want in your struggle for self,
And the world makes you king for a day,
Just go to a mirror and look at yourself,
And see what that man has to say.
For it isn’t your father or mother or wife,
Whose judgment upon you must pass,
The fellow whose verdict counts most in your life,
Is the one staring back from the glass.
Some people might think you’re a straight-shootin” chum
And call you a wonderful guy,
But the man in the glass says you’re only a bum,
If you can’t look him straight in the eye.
He’s the fellow to please, never mind all the rest,
For he’s with you clear up to the end.
And you’ve passed your most dangerous, difficult test,
If the guy in the glass is your friend.
You may fool the whole world down the pathways of years,
And get pats on the back as you pass,
But the final reward will be heartaches and tears,
If you’ve cheated the man in the glass.
THE INDISPENSABLE MAN by Saxon White Kessinger
Sometime, when you’re feeling important
Sometime, when your ego’s in bloom
Sometime, when you take it for granted
You’re the best qualified in the room
Sometime, when you feel that your going
Would leave an unfillable hole
Just follow this simple instruction
And see how it humbles your soul
Take a bucket and fill it with water
Put your hand in it, up to the wrist
Pull it out, and the hole that’s remaining
Is a measure of how you’ll be missed
You may splash all you please when you enter
You can stir up the water galore
But stop, and you’ll find in a minute
That it looks quite the same as before
The moral in this quaint example
Is to do just the best that you can
Be proud of yourself, but remember
There’s no indispensable man!
FACING THE END excerpt from Heavy Hitter Sales Wisdom by Steve W. Martin
General George Patton was in deep trouble. During a visit to a hospital full of wounded GIs in Sicily, he had slapped a soldier suffering from battle fatigue and accused him of cowardice. The reports of the incident caused a public outcry back in the States, and Congress demanded his resignation. Patton’s diary entry on May 1, 1944, about his meeting with his commander Dwight D. Eisenhower reveals his innermost thoughts.
In spite of possible execution this morning I slept well and trust my destiny. God has never let me, or the country, down yet. Reported to Ike at 1100. He was most cordial and asked me to sit down, so I felt a little reassured. He said, "George, you have gotten yourself into a very serious fix." I said, "Before you go any farther, I want to say that your job is more important than mine, so if in trying to save me you are hurting yourself, throw me out." He went on to say that General Marshall had wired him that my repeated mistakes have shaken the confidence of the country and the War Department.
Ike said General Marshall had told him that my crime had destroyed all chance of my permanent promotion, as the opposition said even if I was the best tactician and strategist in the army, my demonstrated lack of judgment made me unfit to command. He said that he had wired General Marshall on Sunday washing his hands of me. (He did not use these words but that is what he meant.)
When I came out I don't think anyone could tell that I had just been killed. I have lost lots of competitions in the sporting way, but I never did better. I feel like death, but I am not out yet. If they will let me fight, I will; but if not, I will resign so as to be able to talk, and then I will tell the truth, and possibly do my country more good. All the way home, 5 hours, I recited poetry to myself (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 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!”
At some point during your career, you will most likely find yourself in an untenable position where have to leave your job or maybe are even fired. Usually, it is an issue of your fit to the job, rather than your ability to do the job. So while you are giving 100 percent of your heart and soul to your company, hold a little piece back in anticipation of the end. Remember, failure must occur for success to exist.
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