'If' nails it for uncertain times

It was back in the late 1970s, when I listened to the music of Roger
Whittaker (during my summer-camp, guitar-playing period), that I first
heard the song 'If' (the sung version of Rudyard Kipling's famous poem).

The smooth sound of the song, but more importantly the words of the
poem, have stuck with me all these years.

As I contemplate the issues of middle age – as well as the current
uncertainty in the economy – I believe there are valuable lessons for all of us
in this poem (you can read the poem by visiting (http://www.everypoet.com/archive/poetry/Rudyard_Kipling/kipling_if.htm).

The most compelling part of the poem for me are the lines: "If you can fill each
unforgiving minute / With sixty seconds worth of distance run / Yours
is the Earth and everything that's in it / And – what is more –
you'll be a Man, my son!"

I hope you find inspiration and comfort in If too!