I may be slightly broken, a little
bruised and even permanently
scarred but I still wake up every
day and look around me at all
of life's beauty and I still have a
will to fight and to keep going on
with the tools I have been given
in this almost surreal life that I
am living and I am not going
to run after people to prove that
I matter.

I have learned that if nobody
else celebrates me that I will
celebrate myself and I have
made up my mind that no matter
what comes my way no matter
how difficult and no matter how
unfair that I will do more than
simply survive,  I will thrive
in spite of it.

Sometimes you just have to take
a day to shut the world out so
you can open up to yourself and
deal with your thoughts and you
don't need to feel guilty or apologize
or try to justify needing space
because you just do what you
need to do to take care of yourself
no explanation needed.
                                               Jon York     2016