![]() When Oprah mentioned “Invictus” in her talk, she was talking about how she has spent her life becoming herself. Because of that, this poem, whatever its quality, will always be special to me. Reading those words as he sat next to his father’s hospital bed gave my husband hope and resolve during that time. I first heard this poem when my husband found it as the last thing his father had read before rushing to the ER with a weird pain and severe illness, and ended up spending a month in the ICU nearly dying then recovering from necrotizing faciiatis and septic shock. I also think that our relationship to poetry also has a lot to do with where we hear it and when it comes to us. Henley doesn’t end this poem saying, “I know everything will turn out okay.” He says, no matter what happens, “I am the master of my fate. “I thank whatever gods may be for my unconquerable soul.”Īlso, I think it’s not falsely optimistic. Henley was writing in the mid-1800s, so it’s not surprising that this is written with an ABAB rhyme scheme in iambic pentameter, but I think this poem is accessible still because despite this formal structure, it’s still so raw: I am the captain of my soul” is very popular among positive thinkers, motivational speakers, and inspirational meme makers the world over. The final couplet, “I am the master of my fate. Like William Henley said, be the master of your fate and the captain of your soul.I was reminded of this poem after listening to Oprah being amazing on her podcast today. ![]() Find out what it is you want and go after it. Fight against adversity and surpass any walls that try to stop you. So Fight against wind, currents and storms. At times it will be hard but like the saying goes, a smooth sea never made a skilled sailor. You can go through life floating, you can let the seas of life carry you every which way with the power of its currents, or you can take hold of your boat and consciously direct your life in the direction you want it to go. We also have some say in the direction, we are all co-creators of our own lives giving it shape and form.Įven if we don’t know it, we are all going somewhere. Fate and destiny play a role but these things alone don’t decide the course of our lives. Go after your dreams and like Emerson said, “trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string.”Įven with awareness, it is still necessary to take action in support of one’s destiny. You can blindly believe in fate and think that things will work themselves out, and sometimes they do, but when it comes to our futures and our dreams I think it’s best to take responsibility for them. Express yourself and don’t be ashamed of that divine idea which each of us represents. It’s up to you to find out what your power is and what it is capable of. With every new human being new gifts and powers come into this world and no one knows what this power can do. Find what your gift is then cherish it like one. These power and gifts are unique to every individual, expressing itself in different ways, shapes and forms. We all have unsurmountable power within us, gifts waiting to be opened. We should act like plants and allow the light to enter our being and we have to find the nourishment we need to GROW and BLOOM. Put your heart into your work and do your best. You have to carefully cultivate yourself, with detail and precision and a hell of a lot of hard work in order to become what you want to be. You are given your life when you come into this world then you must work to make it. “though the wide universe is full of good, no kernel of nourishing corn can come to him but through his toil bestowed on that plot of ground which is given tho him to till.” You have to truly put in the work and life will re-pay you. In the path of YOUR unfoldment, in YOUR growth as a human being, there can be no progress without sacrifice. Envy is ignorance and imitation is suicide. Don’t work off the salvation of others, find your own salvation. Be honest with yourself and dance to the beat of your own drum. it’s worth it when you are rewarded with happiness. It won’t be easy to become your dream but I promise you it will be worth it. You have to travel on this path of unfoldment, with courage, with love, looking everywhere for enlightenment, and you must have a steadfast refusal to give up on your dream. What are you made of? Who are you? What do you really dream of? To know you have to identify within yourself what it is you want out of your life and who it is you want to become.It sounds simple yet it’s not.
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