INSPIRATIONAL POEMS

Now and then we all need a little inspiration. Everyone needs to feel that there life is meaningful, that what they do here on earth has a purpose and matters to the people around them.

When things get tough we need inspiration to give us strength to keep on fighting.

Inspiration can come in many forms, an inspirational idea can move us forward to reach our goals, inspirational messages can give us hope in difficult times, and inspirational poems and quotes can motivate us to be the best that we can be.

Encouraging Poem:
If You Think You Are Beaten

If you think you are beaten, you are.
If you think you dare not, you don’t.
If you’d like to win but think you can’t,
It’s almost certain you won’t.
Life’s battles don’t always go
To the stronger or faster man,
But sooner or later, the man who wins
Is the man who thinks he can.

~ Walter D. Wintle

Inspiring Mantra: I Am

I am strong
I am confident
I am happy
I am amazing
I am great
I am healthy
I am unique
I am special
I am gifted
I am loved
I am loveable
I am joyous
I am fabulous
I am wonderful
I am ME

Inspirational Poems

Here you will find a selection of poems that we hope you will find uplifting.

Inspirational Poem: What Will Matter

Ready or not, some day it will all come to an end.
There will be no more sunrises, no minutes, hours or days.
All the things you collected, whether treasured or forgotten will pass to someone else.
Your wealth, fame and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance.
It will not matter what you owned or what you were owed.
Your grudges, resentments, frustrations and jealousies will finally disappear.
So too, your hopes, ambitions, plans and to do lists will expire.
The wins and losses that once seemed so important will fade away.
It won’t matter where you came from or what side of the tracks you lived on at the end.
It won’t matter whether you were beautiful or brilliant.
Even your gender and skin color will be irrelevant.
So what will matter? How will the value of your days be measured?
What will matter is not what you bought but what you built, not what you got but what you gave.
What will matter is not your success but your significance.
What will matter is not what you learned but what you taught.
What will matter is every act of integrity, compassion, courage, or sacrifice that enriched,
empowered or encouraged others to emulate your example.
What will matter is not your competence but your character.
What will matter is not how many people you knew, but how many will feel a lasting loss when you’re gone.
What will matter is not your memories but the memories that live in those who loved you.
What will matter is how long you will be remembered, by whom and for what.
Living a life that matters doesn’t happen by accident.
It’s not a matter of circumstance but of choice.
Choose to live a life that matters.

~ Michael Josephson

Inspiring Poem: Follow Your Dreams

When others say "It's hopeless and it really can't be done."
When they tell you "It's all over. It's a race that can't be won."
And they promise "You could spend your life just lying in the sun."
Follow your dreams boy. Follow your dreams!

When the people you admire, but who wouldn't understand,
Tell you "Other roads are safer. Your dreams are much too grand."
Or the doubters and the tempters try to take you by the hand.
Follow your dreams boy. Follow your dreams!

You should listen to the counsel of the people that you trust.
But don't be turned aside just because they might get fussed
You live the life that in your heart you know you really must.
Follow your dreams boy. Follow your dreams!

There is nothing you can't conquer if you believe you can.
No mountains you can't straddle, no oceans you can't span.
Just conjure up a vision and set yourself a plan.
Follow your dreams boy. Follow your dreams!

~ Jim Boswell

If you would like to read the inspirational poem Desiderata by Max Ehrmann please click on the following link Desiderata

Smiling

Smiling is infectious
You catch it like the flu
When someone smiled at me today
I started smiling too
I walked around the corner
And someone saw me grin
When he smiled I realized
I had passed it on to him
I thought about the smile
And then realized its worth
A single smile like mine
Could travel round the earth
So if you feel a smile begin
Don't leave it undetected
Start an epidemic
And get the world infected
~ Spike Milligan

Inspirational Poem: Seize The Day

Seize the day, for time is passing,
Seize the day, your days amassing.
Your time to live, and do, and be,
Is now for you a mystery.
To solve each day as it unfolds,
And watch the treasure it beholds.

Now understand your precious time,
Will one day just be over.
And understand the time to live,
Is now, not under clover!
So seize the moment, seize the time,
Seize that precious day.
And fill your life with happiness,
For this is your today!

Not.

You are not your age,
Nor the size of the clothes you wear,
You are not your weight,
Or the colour of your hair.
You are not your name,
Or the dimples in your cheeks,
You are all the books you read,
And all the words you speak,
You are your croaky morning voice,
And the smiles you try to hide,
You're the sweetness in your laughter,
And every tear you've cried,
You're the songs you sing so loudly,
When you know you're all alone,
You're the places that you'be been to,
And the one that you call home,
You're the things that you believe in,
And the people that you love,
You're the photos in your bedroom,
And the future you dream of,
You're made of so much beauty,
But it seems that you forgot,
When you decided that you were defined,
By all the things you're not.

~ Erin Hanson

ONE

One tree can start a forest;
One smile can begin a friendship;
One hand can lift a soul;
One word can frame the goal;
One candle can wipe out darkness;
One laugh can conquer gloom;
One hope can raise your spirits;
One touch can show you care;
One life can make a difference,
be that one today.

Give Lavishly, Live Abundantly

The more you give, the more you get
The more you laugh, the less you fret
The more you do, unselfishly,
The more you live, abundantly ...

The more of everything you share,
The more you'll always have to spare
The more you love, the more you'll find
That life is good and friendss are kind ...

For only what we give away,
Enriches us from day to day.
~ Helen Steiner Rice

Embracing All

Light that lies deep inside of me
Come forth in all the majesty
Show me thy gaze
Teach me thy ways
That I a better person may be.

Darkness that lies deep inside of me
Come forth in all the majesty
Show me thy gaze
Teach me thy ways
That I a better person may be.

Love that lies deep inside of me
Come forth in all the majesty
Show me thy gaze
Teach me thy ways
That I a better person may be.

Inspirational Poetry

I'm not sure if this inspirational poem by Robert Frost is inspiring, challenging or both - decide for yourself.

Inspirational Poem: The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

~ Robert Frost

Inspirational Poem: Hope

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the tune without the words
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chillest land
And on the strangest sea,
Yet never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.

~ Emily Dickinson

Man In the Arena

It is not the critic who counts;
not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles,
or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.
The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena,
whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood;
who strives valiantly;
who errs, and comes up short again and again,
because there is no effort without error and shortcoming;
but who does actually strive to do the deeds;
who knows the great enthusiasms,
the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause;
who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement,
and who at worst, if he fails,
at least fails while daring greatly,
so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls
who neither know victory or defeat.

~ President Theodore Roosevelt

The Voice

There is a voice inside of you
That whispers all day long,
"I feel that this is right for me,
I know that this is wrong."
No teacher, preacher, parent, friend
Or wise man can decide
What's right for you - just listen to
The voice that speaks inside.

Count your blessings
Instead of your crosses
Count your gains
Instead of your losses
Count your joys
Instead of your woes
Count your friends
Instead of your foes.

Inspiring Poem

Don't Quit

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest, if you must, but don’t you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about,
When he might have won had he stuck it out;
Don’t give up though the pace seems slow–
You may succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than,
It seems to a faint and faltering man,
Often the struggler has given up,
When he might have captured the victor’s cup,
And he learned too late when the night slipped down,
How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out–
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far,
So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit–
It’s when things seem worst that you must not quit.

ONE...

One tree can start a forest,
One smile can begin a friendship,
One hand can lift a soul,
One word can frame the goal,
One candle can wipe out darkness
One laugh can conquer gloom
One hope can raise your spirits
One touch can show you care
One life can make the difference
be that one today!

Let No One Steal Your Dreams

Let no one steal your dreams
Let no one tear apart
The burning of ambition
That fires the drive inside your heart.

Let no one steal your dreams
Let no one tell you that you can't
Let no one hold you back
Let no one tell you that you won't.

Set your sights and keep them fixed
Set your sights on high
Let no one steal your dreams
Your only limit is the sky.

Let no one steal your dreams
Follow your heart
Follow your soul
For only when you follow them
Will you truly feel whole.

Set your sights and keep them fixed
Set your sights on high
Let no one steal your dreams
Your only limit is the sky.

~ Paul Cookson

In a world where we seem to be always be rushing somewhere, the following poem inspires us to stop long enough to enjoy the moment.

Inspirational Poem: Slow Dance

Have you ever watched kids on a merry-go-round,
or listened to the rain slapping on the ground?
Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight,
or gazed at the sun into the fading night?
You better slow down, don't dance so fast,
Time is short, the music won't last.

Do you run through each day on the fly,
when they ask "How are you?", do you hear the reply?
When the day is done, do you lie in your bed,
with the next hundred chores running through your head?
You better slow down, don't dance so fast,
time is short, the music won't last.

Ever told your child, we'll do it tomorrow,
and in your haste, not see his sorrow?
Ever lost touch, let a friendship die,
'Coz you never had time to call and say 'Hi'?
You better slow down, don't dance so fast,
Time is short, the music won't last.

When you run so fast to get somewhere,
you miss half the fun of getting there.
When you worry and hurry through your day,
it's like an unopened gift thrown away.
Life is not a race, do take it slower,
hear its music before the song is over.

~David L. Weatherford

This poem is my personal favorite,  a challenge to go through life not fearing rejection, but enjoying it to the full.

Favorite Inspirational Poem: To Risk

To laugh is to risk appearing a fool,
To weep is to risk appearing sentimental.

To reach out to another is to risk involvement,
To expose feelings is to risk exposing your true self.

To place your ideas and dreams before a crowd is to risk their loss.

To love is to risk not being loved in return,
To live is to risk dying,
To hope is to risk despair,
To try is to risk failure.

But risks must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.

The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing, is nothing.
He may avoid suffering and sorrow,
But he cannot learn, feel, change, grow or live.
Chained by his servitude he is a slave who has forfeited all freedom.

Only a person who risks is free.
The pessimist complains about the wind;
The optimist expects it to change;
And the realist adjusts the sails.

~ William Arthur Ward

The Things You Are

You are not your age,
Nor the size of the clothes you wear,
You are not a weight,
Or the color of your hair.
You are not your name,
Or the dimples in your cheeks,
You are all the books you read,
And all the words you speak,
You are your croaky morning voice,
And the smiles you try to hide,
You are the sweetness in your laughter,
And every tear you've cried,
You're the songs you sing so loudly
when you know you're all alone,
You're the places that you've been to,
And the one that you call home,
You're the things that you believe in,
And the people that you love,
You're the photos in your bedroom,
And the future you dream of,
You're made of so much beauty,
But it seems you forgot,
When you decided that you were defined,
By all the things you're not.

and here is one of the classic inspirational poems...

By Changing Your Thinking

By Changing Your Thinking,
You change your beliefs;

When you change your beliefs,
You change your expectations;

When you change your expectations,
You change your attitude;

When you change your attitude,
You change your behaviour;

When you change your behaviour,
You change your performance;

When you change your performance,
You Change Your Life!

Do you have any suggestions for additions to this page, please submit your favourite inspirational poems.

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Other Inspiring Poem & Motivational Sites:-

Desiderata- "Go placidly amid the noise & haste ..."

Footprints Poem - "One night a man had a dream ..."

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Inspirational Poems