This poem by Kipling, encapsulates such wisdom, courage and compassion, and is one of my favourites.
As I read it again today, for the first time in quite a while, I was intrigued by the similarity of the statements within it, and those in Buddhist principles.
IF …
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 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 are 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 – nor 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,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And – which is more – you’ll be a Man, my son!
~ Rudyard Kipling 1895
Kipling was not a Buddhist. He was, from a very early age, a Freemason and a Christian, but I cannot help feeling that his time in India brought him into contact with Buddhism and the ethos of the poem has a Buddhist feel to it.
I hope you enjoyed reading it and that you might take a little of the wisdom contained within it away with you.
We only have to watch the news on TV, listen to the radio, even simply talk to the people around us, to be aware of the challenges and sadness that can accompany the process of living our daily lives.
A parcel arrived in the post this morning, the contents of which will offer someone a little inspiration every day.
Do you remember the day you mastered the art of riding a bicycle? Of course you do. For me, it was the culmination of a rather lengthy, and very frustrating process, and but for the perseverance of my father, I might never have learned at all.
The funeral of Margaret Hilda Thatcher was performed with dignity and a degree of humour, befitting such a huge political figure. I was pleased that, although there were occasional expressions of dissent from the crowds lining the funeral route, there was no apparent protest. 
With the weather being the way it is, I spent much of the morning finishing 
So many World Religions base their beliefs on a God, a Supreme Being, a Creator or an Entity whose existence is the focus of the religion’s belief. That God, or the followers of him (it’s usually a male god) have set down the laws or rules to tell the followers how to live their lives. The God is almost always the only true god, whose word is law and whose actions and will are unquestionable.
We’re all reeling under the onslaught of the latest surge of bad weather to hit Great Britain. The sheer volume of rain and snow, combined with the strong winds shows us how powerful nature can be, and with at least one person missing, just how fragile our existence on this Earth really is.
Having confidence in yourself, in your faith, and in my case, my practice is a really comfortable place to be. But simply having someone else question that confidence can be a good thing at times, even though it might leave you questioning yourself. 
The Search For Enlightenment 
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