If Wishes were Horses and Beggars could Ride

This phrase popped up in my rather fertile imagination today after eating too many chocolate Easter eggs.  I must confess to something of a sweet tooth, but prefer consuming only the finest Belgium chocolates, well, at least

Rudyard Kipling's House - Batemans (Photo credit: Shaun Case)

chocolate with a cocoa ratio of over 70%.  I trust most of my readers will agree with this cocoa content.

As an aside here, I am impressed – and very happy – that I have a contingency reading my blog from The Netherlands, and am convinced that you also have excellent chocolate, however, I haven’t had the good fortune to sample it yet, so must defer to the Belgium variety.  However, I do know there are some excellent regression therapists in the Netherlands, and I have had the good fortune to meet both Marion Boon and Hans Ten Dam, so in the absence of any imminent speaking engagements in Europe, I leave the readers on the Continent in entirely capable hands, with excellent therapists.  (They are both very good writers as well, see the link at the end of this blog.)

Now for those of you wondering about the headline of today’s post, this is the background, sourced from Wikipedia.“If wishes were horses, beggars would ride” is an English language proverb and nursery rhyme, originating in the 16th century, which is usually used to suggest that it is useless to wish and that better results will be achieved through action.So, you see, it does have some relevance to my writing, as my topic today is loosely centred on the concept of fear – and inspiration.In addition to eating chocolate, I also watched a movie today called “The Proposal”, which isn’t your typical Easter Sunday show.  As the name suggests, when the leading character proposed, (at the end of the movie), the rather unromantic response from the heroine was that it would be easier if she just left, as she was scared.  (Note:  she didn’t say NO.)

And that phrase got me thinking…How many times in our life do we make choices based on fear?  And how does that impact the quality of our life?

It seems to be that we are trained to maintain, reach or achieve a state of fear.

From early childhood, we are conditioned to the fear response stimulus:

“Don’t do this.  Don’t do that.  You might get hurt.  You might be hurt. “

And so we quickly develop strategies and tools to stay safe.

Of course, small children need boundaries, or they will be at risk.   But at the age of 21, we are full-grown, and no longer children!  And yet, as adults, we have so much difficulty in letting go of this accumulated fear.

On the one hand, we have our innocence and childhood wonder knocked out of us, (in order to keep us safe), and on the other extreme, as adults, we often end up living in a state of fear that something bad might happen to us IF we are not extra cautious, due to that childhood conditioning.

Good grief!  No wonder we are so afraid to trust our hearts!

And this reminds me of a wonderful poem by Kipling, which some of you may know, and if you haven’t read it before, you are in for a treat.

The book poster for "The Jungle Book," by writer Rudyard Kipling, published by The Century Company, New York, $1.50. Courtesy of the New York Public Library Digital Collection (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

However, I will warn you in advance, please do not pay heed to the final line about making a man out of you – no offense to the women readers out there – I am one of them!  You must remember that Kipling, who received a Nobel prize for literature in 1907, wrote during the time of the British Empire.   He is, of course the author of the famous “Jungle Book”, so definitely possessed an abundance of vision and imagination.

 IF

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!

–       Rudyard Kipling (1865 – 1936)

Enough said.  See you tomorrow.

http://www.earth-association.org/articles/by-earth-president-hans-ten-dam

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