Her eyes held all the stars of the sky
And her smile held the warmth of the sun
The wrinkles in her eyes held wisdom
But her complexion showed all the battles she had won

For before a diamond is a crystal
It is refined and purified through heat
Before a maiden can be rescued from her tower
There is a dragon the knight must defeat

There is no victory without a battle
And there is no glory in an unfought war
Without struggle, there can be no resilience
You can't know peace until you’ve experienced the gore

She looks in the mirror and cries
For she is not the beautiful woman she once used to be
She looks in the mirror and weeps
For the loss of the reflection she used to see

Our culture tells her that she’s bad
Because she has freckles and wrinkles and such
And she forgets to stop and think
That maybe looks don’t matter all that much

For appearance fades and standards change
But one thing stays constant and true
Its the inside that truly matters in life
That bright, bold, beautiful you

Will you live today as an optimist
Or will you let life be boring and dull?
Will you seek to conquer and drive each day,
And live life with a glass half full?

Will you live life with false hope and expectations,
Or will you acknowledge reality, and gain some control?
For living with a more negative look on life
Can help you focus on achieving your ultimate goal.

Is there a balance between these two,
Between the positive and the not?
Maybe there’s some warm in-between
Of the icy cold and the scalding hot.

I can always forgive
But I will never forget.
It is largely viewed as a curse
Fueling malice and hate, but yet,

Maybe it’s not a bad thing
To remember you were wronged,
For then you know how to treat other people
And restore things to where they belonged

when I asked if you were ok,
you hesitated

in your hesitation, I found my answer

Romances come and go,
People love and then leave
Why can’t we live in a fairy tale
When all we have to do is ‘believe’?

Why won’t my fairy godmother visit?
Why can’t we wish upon a star?
Why can’t we live ‘happily ever after’?
Why can’t I have a prince from a kingdom afar?

Maybe this is a fantasy
Or maybe reality is harsh and cold
But without the struggles and the pain
The magic couldn’t stand out so bold.

I am happy
but it's only a mask

I am cheerful
but it feels more like a task

I cry with tears of joy
when really they're tears of pain

I claim im growing to be a better person
when I don't know if I'll ever be myself again