𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑾𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅 𝑰𝒔 𝑨𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕 𝑴𝒆 🌺

When things are not going our way, it can be easy to blame the world and everybody but ourselves. It takes tremendous courage and maturity to look within for the solutions to our problems, and yet, there they are. We are often the ones standing in our own way. I had been facing some internal conflicts over the last few days, and I caught myself blaming the world and my circumstances for all that was going wrong. Today, after reading the poem, “The World Is Against Me,” by the American poet Edgar Albert Guest (1881-1959), which I have shared with you today (see below), I was able to acquire the insight to see that my conflicts were a result of my own failure to take responsibility for the situation. Perhaps you, like me, have been apt to view the world as being against you. This is your sign to look inward; it has only ever been (and will only ever be) you versus yourself. ♥️

“The world is against me,” he said with a sigh.
“Somebody stops every scheme that I try.
The world has me down and it’s keeping me there;
I don't get a chance. Oh, the world is unfair!
When a fellow is poor then he can’t get a show;
The world is determined to keep him down low.”

“What of Abe Lincoln?” I asked. “Would you say
That he was much richer than you are to-day?
He hadn’t your chance of making his mark,
And his outlook was often exceedingly dark;
Yet he clung to his purpose with courage most grim
And he got to the top. Was the world against him?

“What of Ben Franklin? I’ve oft heard it said
That many a time he went hungry to bed.
He started with nothing but courage to climb,
But patiently struggled and waited his time.
He dangled awhile from real poverty’s limb,
Yet he got to the top. Was the world against him?

“I could name you a dozen, yes, hundreds, I guess,
Of poor boys who’ve patiently climbed to success;
All boys who were down and who struggled alone,
Who’d have thought themselves rich if your fortune they’d known;
Yet they rose in the world you’re so quick to condemn,
And I’m asking you now, was the world against them?”

#beauty #beautiful #innerbeauty #love #inspiration #thoughts #journal #diary #philosophy #psychology #psychiatry #literature #quotes #poetry #writing #art #wisdom #religion #spirituality #theology #encouragement

[JeremyLeigh]

Dear God, Lubna, but you have a positive gift for reading my mind and making a video just for me. The past week I've been staring up at this world I have no access to, bemoaning my lack of connections, lack of wealth, lack of even one wealthy relative who might grease some skids, and bemoaning the fact that I am in the midwest, far far away from any center of influence. And I look longingly at the people who are in that world, and their smooth speech, and natural confidence, and their worldly wise ways they were bred to, wondering if there could possibly be a place for someone like me to fit in there.
The fact is that every person in the world I want entry to either found their way themselves or had some father or mother or grandparent do it. Its my turn to try. I can give it my damnedest. I have no guarantees but I can have grit and do whatever is in my power. The rest is out of my control. Blaming people will not help. Seeing the privilege of others does not give me a solvable problem. The solvable problem is doing myself all that I can do. This is my problem and I am the only one to fix it. There are no magic answers. The shortest route is rolling up my sleeves and doing the best damn job I can do, to make myself an asset to someone who wants to make money.
Thanks for this poem. It is a good reminder, a good tug on my shoulder to get my butt back on track so my mind will follow. 🌸