Paddle Your Own Canoe

The blog I planned this week had to do with taking responsibility for ourselves. The crux of it: the suffocating effect our excuses have on our goals, and even on our self-identity. In the draft, assuming everyone knew what it meant, I used the expression "paddle your own canoe." I was wrong. I'll probably scratch the draft, because its message is essentially the same as Sarah Bolton's poem. If you've never read it, be prepared to be inspired. If you are familiar with it, enjoy Ms. Bolton's wise and lyrical advice again.  -- Bernice W. Simpson

PADDLE YOUR OWN CANOE

by Sarah Bolton

Voyager upon life's sea,

To yourself be true,

And where'er your lot may be

Paddle your own canoe.

Never, though the winds may rave,

Falter nor look back;

But upon the darkest wave

Leave a shinning track.

Nobly dare the wildest storm,

Stem the hardest gale;

Brave of heart and strong of arm,

You will never fail.

When the world is cold and dark,

Keep an aim in view,

And toward the beacon mark

Paddle your own canoe.

Every wave that bears you on

To the silent shore,

From its sunny source has gone

To return no more.

Then let not an hour's delay

Cheat you of your due;

But, while it is called today,

Paddle your own canoe.

If your birth denied you wealth,

loftly state and power;

Honest fame and hardy health

Are a better dower.

But if these will not suffice,

Golden gain pursue;

And, to win the glittering prize,

Paddle your own canoe.

Would you wrest the wreath of fame

From the hand of fate?

Would you write a deathless name

With the good and the great?

Would you bless your fellow-men?

Heart and soul inbue

With the holy task, and thenPaddle your own canoe.

Would you crush the tyrant wrong,

In the world's free fight?

With a spirit brave and strong,

Battle for the right;

And to break the chains that bind

The many to the few,

To enfranchise slavish mind--

Paddle your own canoe,

Nothing great is lightly won;

Nothing won is lost;

Every good deed is nobly done,

Will repay the cost.

Leave to Heaven, in humble trust,

All you will do;

But if you succeed, you must

Paddle your own canoe.