Take It or Leave It

I finally went to see Invictus. Oh my. I was close to the "ugly-cry" a few times during the movie. It was a wonderful. I am crazily patriotic. I wanted to burst with pride and excitement the whole time. The poem used in the film, Invictus, is both poignant and around which the entire philosophy of the film is based. I definitely identified with something in it. And after doing a little research I have found that even Timothy McVeigh (the Oklahoma City Bomber) used it at his final hearing prior to his execution in 2001. Great.

I do not believe in fate or destiny but I can identify with taking responsibility for creating and writing your life path. And for never giving up no matter what you may encounter and have to overcome. I have read the poem over and over and am truly moved that this is the poem that so inspired Nelson Mandela. I hope it does the same for you.

"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."

- Invictus by William Ernest Henley

Louise and I at the Soccer World Cup 2010 Kick Off Celebrations