Invictus (unconquerable)

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.

"Invictus" by William Ernest Henley (1875)

God, I thank you for the freedom to be the master of my fate and the captain of my soul...that I am not bound to the chains of sin, or a slave to a nature that in its insatiability, is utterly destructive. It is my prayer that I neither forget this freedom, nor take it for granted.

I am preparing for a battle that I already feel like I am in the middle of. I have to hope that the end result will be worth it...or at the very least come out a little manlier with some extra sword-wielding muscle and spartan-like appearance (sorry, this is serious, but I had to throw in a little humor in wishful thinking).