Getting Started

Life is hard! There is no doubt about it. Sometimes I think back to childhood, where everything was school and looking forward to summer, only to look forward to the new school year. Then, as we entered into junior high/high school, we began to deal with and learn about stress, only to find that it only got worse.

There was a time in my life, even after high school and college, when life was easier. It was when I was organized, focused, and had goals with steps to accomplish them. Now, I barely make it through a day, stumble along with no focus, barely meeting the minimum. What happened?

Well, I could blame it on being married, having children, working, trying to complete further education, etc. But ultimately, it is because I have pushed off my responsibility upon others. It is time for me to take a step back and look at who I am, who I want to be, and how I can get there.

My mother, the angel that she is, shared an important poem with me when I was a child. I came across it the other day, whilst I was trying to find my focus, trying to organize my life by organizing my "stuff". I re-read it and remembered the power within it. So, I am sharing that with you all. Maybe it will help you remember who is in charge of your life so you can re-claim it.

Invictus by William Ernest Henley. 1849–1903

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.