Life, if not a gift,
then what else is it,
a hurdle race, yes,
but are they for you to stop.

Did you lose hope?
why was then no despair?
why didn't you give in?
to the anger, why you lived?

You still regret, don't you?
those old memories,
why are there now comparisons?
with people, you care no more.

You have an ambition,
desire to achieve,
dream you can't unsee,
then don't sleep in sadness.

FIght back the tears,
no moment to spare,
conquer your fears,
a gift then will emerge.

You left room to follow
Bitter tears to swallow
All your fear came
Cascading down
And you could not feel the ground

Heartbreak stood to greet you
Came close to defeat you
In a penny
In a pound
Your bruises don’t make a sound

It hurts to continue
Love blurry, out of view
How do you save
What can’t be found?
Wish I knew that right now

I cannot repair you
You’d never ask me to
I see bruises
Eyes tear bound
Yet you press on somehow

Darling, you are a song
Sorrowful, but so strong
I’ll whisper goodnight
Kiss your brow
And love the tearful clown

Choices or challenges in life regardless of their outcome should be viewed as stepping stones to a wiser and more beautiful you.

The more you’ve been through the more aware and sensitive you become of the hardships others might be facing hidden behind forced smiles.

Sadly not everyone is able to handle or overcome hurdles they are presented with in their lives, by mental illness or by sheer circumstance.

Those of us that have been blessed with the strength and fortitude to overcome must remind ourselves daily that there are those that may need that one act of kindness, a strand of hope to face another day.

Hope can be a powerful thing but only for those who know it’s there. Some need a helping hand to see it, find it and grasp it.

Hope... I pray I never lose sight of it and if I should that there will be someone like you with a kindness of heart impossible to ignore to pluck me from the shadows.

©

This world will throw road blocks in your path
Disguised as people.
People masked with love and honesty
Men and Women adorned with fair hair and a sparkling smile.

This world will throw boulders into your path
Marking you with kisses and scars
Swaying you to stray from your goals
Asking you to give up your morals.

This world will send storms into your path
To push you back
And off the road
To hold you down.
Though through all of this,
We continue to walk
To run
Onwards.
Away from their grasping hands
And through the pelting rain and hounding thunder.
Toward the horizon shining with the ever-present idea of hope.
-ALC April 8, 2019

What keeps you going?
It is the promise that distant future gave?
Is it the dream that you cradled from the start?
Is it those responsibilities that keeps you pushing?
Or is it that promise you made to yourself?

Whatever fuels you, you have to go on...
Hurdles can divert you, but can never derail you
It only makes the journey fun..

Quitting is not for you!
That pedestal of immortality is yours for the taking...
You have to instill despair in the heart of those haters...
You my friend, have to go on..
You owe it to yourself!
Own your destiny!!!
Heck is there a destiny??
It's all in your hands...