There has been a lot going on to provoke thought of late. This year was a significant year for my son, as he took his G.C.S.E. exams. And since achieving the grades he needed to progress as planned, he is now studying in sixth form doing A-level courses. It’s poignant because he is at the same school that I went to, now doing what I can clearly remember. He’s moving on, at an alarming rate, but finding his feet all the same.
More recently a friend of mine mentioned that her son has left home, in the proper fashion. Not just to go away for a while, but properly moved out. I sat and thought about this and had a little cry, partly because I was feeling for my friend, partly because my emotions are all over the place and I cry when I accidentally kill a spider, but also because I realised it’s not that long until it’s going to happen here. And I wondered how I will cope.
Obviously I want my children to thrive and I don’t want to stop them from getting on with their lives, instead I want to promote it. But I doubt any number of positiveness is going to stop that feeling happening. It’s just something I am going to have to face and there is little point dwelling on it now.
Instead I think we should look to what we have a present. And this is where I am feeling just a little bit proud. I got a letter from school last week stating that Rhys is invited to an award ceremony at school to collect two awards, one in Excellence in Product Design and another in Science. Gosh!
This is for work he did in year eleven, in the run up to his G.C.S.E.s. Then since starting sixth form, and taking on four subjects of Product Design, Biology, Geography and English Literature, he has opted to put his work first in all circumstances. He comes in from school and gets it done, he stays late at school some nights to continue working. He dedicates his time carefully to his work, and then allows himself some guitar time or walkabout time. I’m very proud of that. I don’t have to continually prod him with the “get your work done” stick.
And yet in comparison to some of his friends, I see many of them dedicate more time to the dreaded Facebook and Xbox. I sometimes wondered if I was a selfish Mother who denied her children TV, as we don’t have TV channels. We only watch DVDs for entertainment. And yet, instead of yearning for it and nagging at me, the children get tired of friends talking about programmes they are addicted to watching.
Everything is fine in moderation, but I do think that some, (I know from experience) have far too much time in front of a screen, be it TV, consoles or social networking. It startles me.
I wont go there further today. This is not a moment for my soapbox.
I’m just very proud of my son and I wanted to share that today.
It also brings me to a poem I read several years ago that reduced me to tears then. And this is it:
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!By Rudyard Kipling 1895
Helen @ Fuss Free Flavours says
What a lovely post! R is a credit to you.
Michael says
As you know December 30th is the birthday of Rudyard Kipling, the author of the inspirational poem “If”. Even a century-and-a-half after his birth, his poem continues to inspire millions of people, people who come from incredibly varied backgrounds all over the world, including you and me. Apparently, we both feel that the more the message of this poem is shared, the better this world would be. After all, I found your blog because it has Kipling’s “If”.
In that same spirit, the group of enthusiasts (including yours truly) have actually started a blog called “All Things If”, which is devoted to the ideals of the poem. The blog is a literary journal, with short fiction, editorials, sections for “Poems like ‘If’” and “Books like ‘If’”, and, in the next two months, you’ll find interviews with notable people under the heading “Kipling’s Hall of Fame”. Any help that you can offer to improve our blog would be greatly appreciated – articles, stories, suggestions, ideas, comments, editing, etc. I hope you will not find my request too outlandish, but it would also be great if you posted a link to “All Things If” under the text of “If” on your site. This way after reading “If” on your page, your visitors could find readings and even music that expand the poem’s message at “All Things If”.
I look forward to hearing from you,
allthingsif.org