Be Inspired

The tree that never had to fight

For sun and sky and air and light,

But stood out on the open plain

And always got its share of rain,

Never became a forest king

But lived and died a scrubby thing.

The man who never had to toil

To gain and farm his patch of soil,

Who never had to win his share

Of sun and sky and light and air,

Never became a manly man,

but lived and died as he began.

Good timber does not grow with ease,

The stronger the wind, the stronger the trees,

The further the sky, the greater the length

The more the storm, the more the strength,

By sun and cold, by rain and snow

In trees and men good timber grows.

Where thickest lies the forest gorwth,

We find the patriarchs of both.

And they hold counsel with the stars,

Whose broken branches show the scars.

Of many winds and much of strife,

This is the common law of life.

*The literal winds have started in our area. Something that we endure every year.

It made me think of this great poem that my mission president taught us during my mission.

It is a poem that J. Willard taught his sons, the founders of Marriott Hotels.