4 Poems You Need To Know
Hello, hello, happy Friday all. So my job really with these voice notes is to get you to take action yeah. And I've got to try different methods. I can share research studies that might resonate with some of you. I can give my thoughts on things and give you some advice from helping people and my own personal experience maybe that's something that resonates more, more stories.
Speaker 1:But there's one thing that resonates with me a lot and that's amazing poems. I know you might be thinking, Scott shut up, I'm not listening to poems but trust me, you come across the right poem at the right time, it can change your life. So I've a few poems I'm gonna say to you and I'm gonna try and do my countrymen justice because as a Welshman I should be really, really good at poetry and singing which I'm not but maybe I can recite poetry in a decent manner. So without further ado, a few poems that hopefully will help some of you trigger some action today or way of looking at things. First one, many of you would have heard these poems but look they hit just as hard every time you listen or read them.
Speaker 1:First one is a poem called If. Are we ready? Yes we are, you enjoying your walk. Okay let's go. If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blame it on you, if you can trust yourself when all men doubt you but make allowance for their doubting too.
Speaker 1: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, 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.
Speaker 1:If you can better hear the truth you've spoken twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, or watch the things you give your life to broken and stoop and building them 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 have 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 not 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.
Speaker 1:Yours is the earth and everything that's in it. And which is more? You'll be a man, my son. I love it. I love it.
Speaker 1:If you dream and not make dreams your master, if you can think a holy stream but not make thy master, get action. If you can think but not make thought you aim, think for the sake of it. If you can meet triumph and disaster and treat those both impostors the same, how good is that? Because they are both impostors. Keep winning can cause false confidence or whatever and same as disaster like both of them, treat them the same.
Speaker 1:Stay in the middle, in the middle way, I love it. Next one, it's my favourite one actually. This is called equipment. Let's get to it. Figure it out yourself my lad.
Speaker 1:You've all the greatest of men have had. Two arms, two hands, two legs, two eyes and a brain to use if you would be wise. With this equipment they all began, so start from the top and say I can. Look them over the wise and great, they take their food from a common plate and similar knives and forks they use with similar laces they tie their shoes. The world considers them brave and smart, but you've all they had when they made their start.
Speaker 1:You can triumph and come to skill. You can be great if only you will. You're well equipped for what fight you choose. You have legs and arms and brains to use. And the man who has risen great deeds to do began his life with no more than you.
Speaker 1:You are the handicap you must face. You are the one who must choose your place. You must say where you want to go, how much you will study the truth to know. God has equipped you for life but he lets you decide where you want to be. Courage must come from the soul within.
Speaker 1:The man must furnish the will to win. So figure it out for yourself, my lad. You were born with all the great of heart. With your equipment they all began. Get hold of yourself and say I can.
Speaker 1:How good is that guy? He's like unbelievable, unbelievable. We'd all start off the same place in a sense. We've all got arms, legs, you know, in general. It's all possible, it's all possible.
Speaker 1:Equipment, equipment. Okay, this one's called Good Timber. The tree that never had to fight for sun and sky and air and light, but stood out in the open plain and always got its share of rain, never became a forest king but lived and died a scrubby thing. The man who never had to toil to gain and farm his patch of soil, who never had to win his share of sun and sky and light and air, Never became a manly man but lived and died as he began. Good timber does not grow with ease.
Speaker 1:The strong wind, the strong trees, the further sky the greater length, the more the storm, the more the strength. By sun and cold, by rain and snow in trees and men good timbers grow. Where thickness lies the forest growth we find the patriarchs of both and they hold counsel with the stars whose broken branches show the scars of many winds and much of strife. This is the common law of life. Unreal.
Speaker 1:Sorry guys, it's all like man men and I know most people listening probably were men. So So just change of these back in the day, obviously all men talk about men. But how good is that? Talks about good timber. Don't be in your own isolated, never in your own house, on your own palace, never going out there and having the elements hit you and slap you, punch you in the face.
Speaker 1:You're never gonna become the forest king like the trees are fighting it up to the air. Amazing common law of life. We gotta go into the fight basically. And we've gotta go through the hardship to become who we need to be, who we want to be. Gotta go through all the hard stuff.
Speaker 1:We gotta actually put ourselves there and not run away from things. I think it's beautiful. So we wanna be good timber guys. Who's with me? Who's gonna be good timber today?
Speaker 1:Last poem for you. Last poem. Okay. This is called Have You Earned Your Tomorrow? By the same guy that did equipment.
Speaker 1:Okay. Here we go. Is anyone happier because you passed his way? Does anyone remember that you spoke to him today? This day is almost over and his toiling time is through.
Speaker 1:Is there anyone to utter now a kindly word of you? Did you give a cheerful greeting to the friend who came along or a surely sort of howdy and then vanish in the throng? Were you selfish pure and simple as you rushed along the way or is someone mighty grateful for a deed you did today? Can you say tonight in parting with the day that slipping fast that you helped a single brother of the many that you passed? Is a single heart rejoicing over what you did or said?
Speaker 1:Does a man whose hopes were fading now with courage look ahead? Did you waste the day or lose it? Was it well or solely spent? Did you leave a trail of kindness or a scar of discontent? As you close your eyes in slumber, do you think that God would say you have earned one more tomorrow by the work you did today?
Speaker 1:Brilliant. Simple poem, simple to understand. Are we taking the time out today? And I think, Roanna, I mentioned this in Booklet before, just to do some nice things to people without anything back. Say hello, hello, good morning, hello.
Speaker 1:That's little things, asking someone, if someone was looking a bit sad, how you doing? Just like simple things we could do that go a long way. Like it says in the poem, maybe you give someone a bit of hope today, bit of courage to do something, message someone, don't know, someone's struggling, like we're always looking internally, only being what we're gonna do, we're very individualistic now as a human race while the Western world versus before it was more of a family unit or community unit. So it is hard, a lot of people are isolated and feel like on social media everybody's doing perfect stuff and everyone's rushing along with their lives and leaving them behind. But could be though if once a day you reach out to help someone do something kind, could do a lot for people can they?
Speaker 1:So that's a nice point to finish things on. So whilst we can all try and improve our timber and understand the equipment we've got is what we've got and we've got to use what we've got, that's the only thing we've got. We've got what we've got, let's use it. Let's not wish for more this and that to be like that person, that person. What do we have that we can use today?
Speaker 1:That's it, your equipment. Make the most of your equipment. And the first poem, is keep cool, keep a cool head. Can you be a good person with all the things around you? Can you keep your cool head when things are going crazy around you?
Speaker 1:Can you let winds and triumphs and everything come at you but not collapse or change as a person? Can you try and be steady, can you try and have stillness today with the chaos of the world? Can you use the most of your equipment today, What you've got today? You might have not as much time as me. You've got kids and stuff, maybe don't have as much time as me but do what you can with your own equipment.
Speaker 1:And can you realise that good timber is built or made from the hardships of the growth? That's the main thing, the timber, do you wanna build good timber to do it like Hercules, who would Hercules be if he didn't have to go through the 12 labors? He wouldn't be Hercules at all. And then can we do something nice for people? Can we do something nice today without anything back and earn a nice good day tomorrow by helping someone, giving someone a helping hand and not making everything about us.
Speaker 1:And I'm gonna leave you with that guys. Enjoy your weekend. Remember, moderation is the way. Ask yourself on this weekend am I being moderate, am I being moderate? To try and break that automatic decision making and you'll start living a lifestyle where you don't have to go to the extremes drinking too much, eating too much, all this type of stuff.
Speaker 1:Let's pull it back, let's be moderate and that's why you'll find success. And that's it guys. I'm out. Enjoy yourselves, have a good weekend and I'll see you all for week three on Monday.
