What kind of person are you?

[GradyPhilpott]

Originally Posted by MrGoat

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 Earnest Henley

I would very much like to think that this describes me. I do admit to having "winced" and having "cried aloud" on a number of occasions, but I'm not ashamed of having done so.

I have not read this poem since I was a young Pfc. stationed at Las Pulgas, Camp Pendleton, California. Someone had written it on a building I had to guard four hours on and four hours off, while I awaited my orders to Vietnam, back in 1968.

Tet '68 had just begun and I was stuck in a unit that was going nowhere and so, I went to my lieutenant and demanded orders as soon as a quota came in.

He said that he said that he would grant my wish, but that I had to stand guard duty and mess duty while I waited. I served a week of each before the orders came in.

Anyway, I'm a pretty drab person on the whole. I'm not much influenced by the demands of others, but I do try to be considerate.

Sometimes, I'm loud and obnoxious and other times, I'm quiet and withdrawn.

I haven't accomplished much in my life, but I have accomplished those things that I thought were important given my circumstances.

I'm happy with how things turned out and I wish the same for others.