IF by Rudyard Kipling

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!

walk on the water, or swim in the sand?

Question:

Walk on the water?
Or swim in the sand?
Tough one isn’t it? Mainly because it doesn’t make sense. Neither of those things are possible. You can not walk on water, nor swim in sand. Perhaps the other way around, but no. the question is stupid. Well, you know when you see famous quotes that are short, and insightful? They make you think a lot without saying much? I’m trying that. So choose. Walk on the water, or swim in the sand? Those are really the only two options for your life. Now sand, although not the most reliable ground, can still be walked on. You can walk on the beach, stand in a little kids sandbox, and sit in a box of kitty litter. I have no idea why, but what you do is your business. But see, you can walk on sand. You can grab a handful of it, and build a castle, or throw it at someone. It’s tangible, you can feel it, hold it. But besides making sandcakes, what else is sand good for? You can sell it to preschools, and you can put it in a bottle for a souvenir, but what else? Can you build a house? Can you feed it to your pets? Can it sustain life? Not really. Sand is just that: sand. In life, you have things that are meaningful, and things that are sand. You have school and video games. Salad and triple chocolate chunk ice cream. Homework and backyard football. Now, these things that are sand, they’re fun, right? Just like building a sand castle, and burying your brother. They’re fun, but like sand, it doesn’t last. Eventually the tide comes in, and eventually your mom yells at you. It was fun while it lasted but, your just standing there. Just treading water, staying in the same spot, not progressing, not digressing, just playing in the sand. Now, on the other hand, you can walk on water. Something that is physically impossible, scientifically impossible, impossible in any way or any dimension. Unlike sand, you sink in the water. You can’t hold it, and make things with it, or let your cat use it as a restroom. But nonetheless, it is still vital. Everything on this planet that lives, needs water. It keeps us hydrated, keeps us healthy, it sustains life. When you have water, you have life. Water is useful, school, salad, and homework, right? And walking means that you are progressing towards a certain mark. The fridge, the mailbox, the car. But how can we walk on water? We look to God. When peter looked at Jesus, he could walk on water. He could do the impossible, and progress towards his mark, his point of interest, his Lord. When he looked to God, he could spread the water of life, he could do the impossible. Those are really the only two options in your life. Tread water in your fun, neither go forward or back, and be happy making houses in the sand. Or do the impossible. Walk where men fear, look nowhere but forwards, progress in usefulness, water the thirsty. Take your pick. Walk on the water, or swim in the sand?