If

Ever read "If" by Rudyard Kipling? It's one of my favorites! (You can read it here).

This week I used it with my juniors as an intro to British poets and also to review conditional statements. Then we wrote our own conditional poems by changing Kipling's words to our own. The rule was you had to write about something you truly understood the obstacles of (after all, the entire thing is if, if, if, if, if, if, if, (ahhh) then). It was fun and challenging and amazing to read their work. They liked mine, too, but they might have just said that to be nice!

So I'm sharing it with you--Dave Ramsey-ites yourself--or just patient with us as we are : )


If
Mrs. G

If you can learn to deny your every whim when all about you
Are seemingly not,If you can think of the distant future
But also stop to consider what is possible and you can do now,
If you can live within your means and act the wage you get,
Or being around those who don’t, don't overspend,
Or having friends and family stare at you the 17th time you’ve said “No, thanks”
And yet don’t dismiss their reaction, understanding the strangeness of it yourself.

If you can budget--and not make numbers your master,
If you can fill the envelopes --and not make emptying them your only aim;
If you can meet with Extra and NoneAnd treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by broke people to shame your choices,
Or watch the values you’ve dedicated your life to, be questioned,
And belittled and called old fashioned.

If you can tune in to Dave Ramsey for comfort
nd risk being infamously W-E-I-R-D,
And acknowledge everything you spend,
And never hide a dollar in your budget;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To cut up Visa, Mastercard, and Discover, perhaps too retire the free reign debit card;
If you use the envelope system, but refrain from trolling to spend,
And hold on to your cash until something is worth the spend
And diligently plan to get out of debt in order to save for later.

If you can go to the library for books or the park for play,
Or walk the mall without purchasing—and learn to cook at home,
If naysayers’ cynicism nor your own gaffes cannot distract you;
If you’ll pursue the commitment, and seek financial freedom,
If you can abide by the planned thirty days of budgeting
With the determination of a gazelle,
You will be peace-filled,
And—what is more--you'll become wealthy, my friend!