Elegy On Not Giving Up

Do you ever have times when you think you can’t win,  
Or you’re getting no gain from the pain you are in?  
Are you troubled by thoughts that you’re losing your groove,  
Do you have a conviction that things won’t improve?  
 
If you’re not fitting in, or you’ve taken a hit,    
Or you’ve fallen right into a bottomless pit,  
If you don’t want to deal with what’s real any longer,  
If the pain you are feeling has been getting stronger,  
 
And you’re feeling downtrodden, forgotten, or blue,  
As though every god is abandoning you,  
Or the future seems futile and is making you mope,  
Looking dimmer and dimmer, with no glimmer of hope,  
 
Or you’re having the worst time that you’ve ever had,  
Or you’re guessing your destiny’s terribly bad,  
Then don’t give in or submit, don’t split and don’t quit,  
Discover some other way of looking at it.    
 
Don’t be beat by defeatism or lose to the blues.        
When things aren’t going smoothly then you’ve choices to choose.  
No matter how greatly your spirits have dropped,  
There’ll always be options, for which you might opt.  
 
If your life’s full of strife or your fate leaves you reeling,  
Stay open to hope, and a chance for some healing.    
Whatever the feeling, that feeling will finish.    
Sooner or later the pain will diminish.  
 
No rain falls forever, no pain stays the same,    
And the best is brought out at the price of the pain,  
Like the rainbow is wrought by the sun after rain.    
 
Why let your regrets get the better of you?  
Why fret and why stew, or let sadness accrue?  
There is never a limit to the things you could do,  
Any moment or minute you could make a breakthrough.    
 
You might be surprised.  And you never can tell,  
When things will get better, or even go well.  
        
You’re not Crusoe, you know, there are many like you,  
All suffering from some type of suffering too.    
 
You might happen to be the person who noticed,  
The moment another was feeling their lowest.  
Who wouldn’t walk by when their need was the largest,  
Or turn a blind eye when their hour was the darkest.        
 
The time someone’s need is most urgent or critical,  
The support you provide could prove to be pivotal.  
Just by trying to help, or showing you care,  
Or simply being there, you could end their despair.  
 
While some deeds may seem slight, or they may seem routine,  
You just never know quite how much they might mean.  

You might meet a person who’s hurting a lot,  
Your words could outweigh every problem they’ve got.  
The things that you say could transform a bad day,  
The care you convey might just make it okay.  
 
Perhaps there’ll be someone with their back to a wall,  
In a very tight spot, or behind an eight ball.        
Thoughtful things that you do, done exactly on cue,  
Could help them feel better through a new point of view.  
 
Good deeds are the seeds from which new hope can sprout.    
Who knows could happen? You’ve just got to find out.    
And deeds that are ‘small’ can have snowball effects.  
You have to keep watching for what happens next.    
 
The world needs you in it, to turn wrong into right.    
You’re not alone in your sorrow, nor alone in the fight.    
You’ve a duty to do, and a reason to be,  
There are plenty of people who need you, you see.