Emotions can cause such endless commotion,
They can go from the weakest to highest waves…
Then deep deep down
They can dig the deepest of shallow graves…

Battered and scarred is what happens when you take emotions so far

The tidal waves begin to crash and sway as it falls apart and begins to wash away the remnants of a shattered heart

I withstood the pressure
Then I took the time
I stole back my life
And remade it mine
I took the heavy hits
I took the heavy blow
I fell from an all time high
Then said "look out below"
I've been through the worst
Yet I've seen it done before...

So I am not the first

Like the waves
Like the summer sun
We all rise and fall
So that dream
It's still plausible  
Although illogical
It's not impossible...

From personal experience I say…

Stay standing tall
I had a dream...

Many years ago...

I once came to a rough point
I decided to just go with the flow

My dreams
I let them go...

But recently...
I've had those moments
When time starts to slow
Lost in my thoughts
No idea the path to go
Clueless to which path to travel
All those dreams of the past
Began to unravel as I realized

Life's too fast to only dabble
I began to fathom my fate
I stepped out from the shadows
Felt my eyes dilate
Then and there I started seeing  the bigger picture
I have to weigh the risks that I take
If there is no opportunities...

Then opportunities I'll make

Late at night I often lay awake and late last night I was thinking about how I have a clean slate...

I finally shut my eyes and fell asleep

In my dreams that night I was called by a young boy who said he'd like to meet

I took the offer and we met on the corner of my neighborhood street.
His height was only a few feet  
Clearly,
He was still young and naive.

We conversed a lot about what it means to set yourself free and we often agreed
There was one thing he said before I awoke that helped myself finally see...

He said...
He was a younger me

He went on to say...
In order to change fate
In order to be free
You have to use imagination
You have to learn to  c r e a t e
Sure you've made mistakes
Cry me a river
Build a bridge and get over it ...
Even if afterwards it still hurts a little bit...

All those who said to grow up
To give up
Said that your dream,
It's not possible

Said it's stupid
Said it's dumb

Said you're good at it but you're not the one…

If you learn to  c r e a t e your own
f a t e

You'll grow up to be  g r e a t ...

Maybe even the g r e a t e s t...

But it's true...

L i f e   i s   o n l y   w h a t . . .

w e  - m a k e  - i t

If you block it all out
If you ignore all their hate

Y o u ' l l   l e a v e  a l l   o f   t h e m…

I n  y o u r  w a k e

Set me aside
Just set me aside
Leave me behind
Hung out to dry

Set me aside
Just set me aside
Do not shed a tear
Do not cry
You know I'll be fine
Keep peace of mind

Set me aside
Just set me aside
If it's the end of our era
If it’s the end of our time in your eyes

Set me aside
Just set me aside
Left in the dark
Without you I'm blind
Without you I’m dying
But as long as you still feel alive
As long as you find the light
I’ll keep saying I'm fine

Set me aside
Just set me aside
I will go willing
I will not fight
I was wrong
So, you were right
To set me aside

You set me aside
Yet even still
When it all goes awry
If you start falling
Call on me
And I will arise

A place in my heart
I've set inside
If your world starts crumbling
I’ll swallow my pride
Call on me
And I will arise

If you’re lost in the dark
I've been here awhile
So, I’ll be your guide
Call on me
And I will arise
When your wings are broken
I’ll be your angel
I’ll help you fly
Call on me
And I will arise

It was not a lie
When I told you I'd love you
Until the day that I die

If you call on me

I’ll set life aside

For you

I will arise

Locked inside

Feeling left out

Living life but life's locked out

Hopes and dreams

Love and laughter

Here for moments then gone so long right after

Helpless thoughts

Within a crowded home

Happiness hides in the basement

While sadness steals the show

Motivation lacks as madness lapses

Running laps around bad habits

Wasting time on time to go’s

Stick around but just for show

No peace of mind until we're lavished

Gone out of mine to find the meaning but still can't grasp it

They say to live your life as if you're dying

Every second counts yet life's untimely

But what's the point when living blindly

Futures fate

The pasts behind me

Took a chance

But life's denied me

Lost my faith

Got it back

By a thread

About to snap

Here I sit

Trying to stand

Fight the demons

Be a man

Lost in the ocean

Cant find land

Life's a struggle

No upper hand

Empty notions

Glass half full

Lost my way

So long ago

Now im caged

Stuck in a hole

Fleeting strength

The depth just grows

I  must be willing

This I know

Climb back up

However slow

Do not wait

Get up and go

Times against me

Stop saying no

Afraid of heights

But feeling low

Use all my might

Trudge through the snow

I will not stop

Until I'm happy

Until I’m whole

I will not stop

I  w i l l  n o t  s t o p

Until I reach my goals

W h o   w o u l d   h a v e   t h o u g h t   t h i s   p a s t

How long one man's past would last
It was on his mind
On his mind he would clearly find his thoughts running the wrong way down the line

But he burned the bridges because his intuition said to ignite sins
To watch them burn away to no return
The painful beauty of a clear conscious he would someday learn

The fire of the rising sun that set the pace for a new day had  blazed away the pain as he gave a gaze across the open plains that were his opportunities in disarray

Like wild game he set his sights on the biggest one with his loaded gun but the distance the bullet had to travel had become more elaborate as the landscape that was life began to unravel…

It's hard to say from where he stands...

Where exactly in the distance his bullet lands

Something he realized one night
Is there's only one shot at life
Which path is right
Which path is wrong

These thoughts made his nights seem so long
He hung his head

His patience didn’t pay
He took too long to take a shot
His opportunity had fled
It got away

He tried to chase it but this opportunity wasn't so patient
He wouldn't give up though
He wouldn't face it
He kept on searching
He couldn't embrace it
He suddenly lost the trail
He doubled back
Trying to retrace it
But the dust had set in
A storm was brewing
The sun was setting
The darkness was soon to set in
He tried to get through the night
It would be 3 years until he would see sunlight

Somewhere down that line
He had lost sight
Lost his might

All will to fight the darkness
To live his life
Just as he fell to the ground…

He raised his head and gave one final gaze across the darkened plains…

In the distance were two white eyes staring back so bright
His opportunity approached as the man made his way to his knees
It was a fearsome lion but it invoked no fright  
It helped raise him to his feet
It gave him hope
The sun began rising
It rose to its peak

The lion with it’s golden mane guided him through the plains
Through the desert
Over each sandy *****
Through the mountains
Over each of the ragged stones
Through the swamps
Through the thickest of groves
Passed the marshes
Through the thickest of fogs
It led him through the unknown  

It led him the whole way
It had led him home
He realized that lion
Once his opportunities
Was now his dreams
He would never again be alone
It led him through life
Who would have known

Now this man is in his older age
Now in this man's present days...
He gives a gaze in the mirror
He sees a lion with a golden mane

He smiled as it smiled back but something changed

He finally asked who the lion was…

I t  s a i d  t h e  m a n's  n a m e

In the end it seems
That man from such a darkened past
Is now living his dreams

L i v i n g  h i s  d r e a m s  a t  l a s t