Being an entrepreneur is the dream of many, but the path is not always easy. It can be easy to become discouraged. As time goes on you can forget how optimistic and motivated that you used to be. Whether your business is large or small, you’re still vulnerable. You’re still a human being. Life is unpredictable and so is the world of business.
Don’t lose hope. With the greatest struggles come the greatest accomplishments. In recognition of April being National Poetry Month, here are three inspiring poems to help you find inspiration and keep fighting.
1. The Unsubdued
S. E. Kiser’s The Unsubdued will make you think twice about giving up, ever.
I have hoped, I have planned, I have striven,
To the will I have added the deed;
The best that was in me I’ve given,
I have prayed, but the gods would not heed.
I have dared and reached only disaster,
I have battled and broken my lance;
I am bruised by a pitiless master
That the weak and the timid call Chance.
I am old, I am bent, I am cheated
Of all that Youth urged me to win;
But name me not with the defeated,
For tomorrow – again, I begin.
Experiencing tough times? “The Bars of Fate” by Ellen M. H. Gates has some empowering words to help you break through.
I stood before the bars of Fate
And bowed my head disconsolate;
So high they seemed, so fierce their frown,
I thought no hand could break them down.
Beyond them I could hear the songs
Of valiant men who marched in throngs;
And joyful women, fair and free,
Looked back and waved their hands to me.
I did not cry “Too late! Too late!”
Or strive to rise, or rail at Fate,
Or pray to God. My coward heart,
Contented, played its foolish part.
So still I sat, the tireless bee
Sped o’er my head, with scorn for me,
And birds who build their nests in air
Beheld me, as I were not there.
From twig to twig, before my face,
The spiders wove their curious lace,
As they a curtain fine would see
Between the hindering bars and me.
Then sudden change! I heard the call
Of wind and wave and waterfall.
From heaven above and earth below
A clear command “ARISE AND GO!”
I upward sprang with all my strength,
And stretched my eager hands at length
To break the bars- no bars were there;
My fingers fell through open air!
3. Victory
Mariam Teichner wrote a very inspiring poem about refusing to compromise principles, even in the face of defeat. If you’re experiencing doubts, the poem Victory can be life-changing. Even in loss there is something to gain.
I call no fight a losing fight
If, fighting, I have gained some straight new strength;
If, fighting, I turned ever toward the light,
All unallied with forces of the night;
If, beaten, quivering, I could say at length;
“I did no deed that needs to be unnamed.
I fought… and lost…
And I am unashamed.
Poetry isn’t dead, and it won’t ever die. In the age of instant tweets, poetry may not be as mainstream as it once was but it will never lose its value in society.
