The "If" series: Stoop and Rebuild

The "If" series contains a set of excerpts from Rudyard Kipling's magnificent poem. It's a shame about the gender specific language although the poem was written over 100 years ago. These thoughts are my reflections only.

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
  And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools

There's a certain humility to this, as well as a stoicism. A few times I have spent a decade or so on trying to make something happen - and watched it trashed, over a period of a few weeks. Personal relationships, career directions, client relationships. Often I've been a part of the mechanism that destroys the achievements, sometimes I've had the help of malicious influences outside of my control.

But where there's life, there's hope. I recently sighted a prior nemesis across a room and the thought came to my mind:

"You should have taken the hit out on me when you had me beaten"

It's only with a detached sense of sad satisfaction that I watch this person's own situation unravel. A dish best served cold, I suppose.

I seem to survive, from one disappointment to the next. And it seems that every dead end is an opportunity to reinvent myself. In every case I now thank those who destroyed my efforts when they did. I didn't feel it at the time but as my beautiful mother once told me:

"Often he things that are best for us are the things we would not choose for ourselves"

I wonder what I'll be five years from now? And who will I be able to thank for destroying what I currently have?