The 2 Kinds of People

People who spread hope in the world are a breath of fresh air. Equally inspiring are those people who dance with adversity and dig for diamonds buried in the mount of dirt unloaded outside their front door.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox in her poem Two Kinds of People paints a picture of the two kinds of people we run into as we travel here on earth. When I heard this poem, I knew I wanted to share it as an encouragement and reminder of the choice we make every day about how we will show up in the world.

May Ella’s words inspire you to be the kind of person who begins each day with a desire and plan to make a difference and leave a positive impact regardless of your circumstances.  

Two Kinds of People

There are two kinds of people on earth today,
Two kinds of people no more I say.
Not the good or the bad, for it’s well understood,
The good are half bad, the bad are half good.

Not the happy or sad, for in the swift-flying years,
Bring each man his laughter, each man his tears. 
Not the rich or the poor, for to count a man’s wealth,
You must know the state of his conscience and health.

Not the humble and proud, for in life’s busy span,
Who puts on vain airs is not counted a man. 
No! the two kinds of people on earth I mean,
Are the people who lift, the people who lean.

Wherever you go you’ll find the world’s masses
Are ever divided into these two classes.
And, strangely enough, you will find, too, I mean,
There is only one lifter to twenty who lean.

In which class are you? Are you easing the load
Of the overtaxed lifters who toiled down the road?
Or are you a leaner who lets others bear,
Your portion of worry and labor and care?

How have you been a lifter for someone this week?
What will you do today to lift the load for someone else?

Image source: Free image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net
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