What makes you come alive?

[Aleidis Zrgaat]

What inspires you? Fills you with hope or determination? Is there a passage or poem, a speech or song that gives you a swift kick forward? A memory that holds back the melancholy and doldrums? Share it here!

Of course, you don't have to contribute - or even discuss. I simply thought it'd be nice for us to share some positive energy with each other.

I'll start things off with a favorite of mine.

“Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan Press On! has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.”

― Calvin Coolidge

 

[Akio Kahoshi]

http://youtu.be/-bzWSJG93P8

 

[Sarge Potteiger]

Super cheese time:

Ryori

 

[Jsc]

Martial Arts. I'm a total sucker for all that Eastern Philosophy stuff.

 

[Alan]

Oxygen.

 

[Aran Finn]

Great thread idea

Rudyard Kipling's poem "If--" is something that I try to apply to every day life. Very inspiring and instructional on how to maintain excellence without falling to hubris or the negativity of outside factors.

"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;"

 

[Ryan]

Ryori's Assets

 

[Ignasius Van-Derveld]

Most people will probably not care about my internal conflicts and battles o'life, but I have struggled for years with the idea of manhood and whether or not I qualify as a man. I do not mean genderwise, I got that sorted pretty early on, but the idea of masculinity. I never had a father in the house growing up and looked outside of my home for male role models (which I found and am eternally grateful for), but there is always something missing that a good dad can provide to a son. Whether you call it 'legitimization', 'approval' or my preferred term of 'validation' most your guys like to have their father say, "I am proud of you" or "you're a man now". It may seem weird but I have identified this one thing as the root cause of a lot of my baggage in life (pretty well adjust now folks, but it took me a decade at least!)

This poem has given me a pretty succinct description of what I have tried to be in life in regards to the idea of 'masculinity'. You may have your different definitions, and you may not like the person that wrote the poem, but the words have inspired me nonetheless.

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!​

If by Rudyard Kipling​

 

[Aleidis Zrgaat]

Oh, I've read that one, @[member="Aran Finn"]! I'll admit I'm not as familiar with Rudyard Kipling as I'd like to be (he's on my to-do list for sure) but I heard the full version of that at a wedding once and it was simply beautiful. An inspiring look at male psychology in general - 'what it is to be a man'.

EDIT: And @[member="Ignasius Van-Derveld"] post-snipes me with the full thing! Love it!

 

[Aran Finn]

@[member="Aleidis Ijet"] I agree, he really summed us up with a few words. Kipling is a gold mine of thought-provoking, beautiful wordplay. Get yourself a copy of his collected poems and enjoy

@[member="Ignasius Van-Derveld"] Boom. That's mah boy

 

[Ignasius Van-Derveld]

@[member="Aran Finn"] Ahem. I am NOT your boy.

>.>

 

[Aran Finn]

@[member="Ignasius Van-Derveld"] That was unnecessary.. >.<

 

[Ignasius Van-Derveld]

@[member="Aran Finn"] ic bleeding through

 

[Aran Finn]

@[member="Ignasius Van-Derveld"]

*immediately thinks of snarky, possibly line-crossing comment*

*leaves it*

 

[Meret Blackmoon]

Shakespeare in Love

 

[Aran Finn]

Henry V
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRj01LShXN8

 

[Vorhi Alestrani]

I mostly just vent by writing slam poetry I never actually state.

The big quote, though, that always drove me forward from a leadership standpoint, was something an old preacher I knew always used to say to people. "The only thing more contagious than enthusiasm, is the lack of it." That always stuck with me. Even fake enthusiasm (although the real thing is more effective) can move a lot of people forward if you're willing to work intensely for something. You can build faith, simply by working with enthusiasm towards a goal.

 

[Judas of Vahl]

The blood in my alcohol stream.

 

[Judas]

What inspires me?
Islam.

 

[Djonas Vile]

These great words of inspiration.​