The Smoke Divers' Creed

If I persist, if I continue to try,

if I continue to charge forward, I will succeed. 

I will not hear those who weep and complain,

for their disease is contagious. 

The prizes of life are at the end of each journey,

not near the beginnings,

and it is not given to me to know how many steps

are necessary in order to reach my goal. 

I will never consider defeat,

and I will remove from my vocabulary such words as quit,

cannot, unable, impossible, failure, and retreat,

for these are the words of fools and cowards. 

When my thoughts beckon my tired body homeward,

I will resist the temptation to depart.  I will try again. 

I will make one more attempt to close with victory, a

nd if that fails, I will make another. 

When others cease their struggle,

then mine will begin, and my harvest will be full.