Invictus

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

--William Ernest Henley (1849-1903)


Take courage in this new year. Gather your courage to face what is hard, what is challenging. Meet it head on, and chip away at obstacles, each and every day. Celebrate your progress, celebrate your goal of taking on a challenge, and take one step at a time. Know you are headed in the right direction, and move. You are stronger, more skilled, more knowledgeable than you give yourself credit.

Each day is a new beginning. Each day is the right time for a new step in the right direction. Truly, "I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul."