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.

©

I need
to frequently revise
my principles
for living
a joyful and happy life
so that when challenges come
I’m ready to respond
in a wise way.

My existence weighs heavy today,
Heavier than any moment to precede it.
I must decide now what will be my way,
If I shall rise to victory or remain defeated.
But in all truth, I feel not afraid.
Other challenges, I have vanquished
Lacking that languished hand of aid.
Yes, life is my special stage.
I shall revel in it's light,
As well as that of my new age.

Another day
Another challenge
Another "pick myself up"
Another heart wound to bandage
Another determination made to keep going .
Another  stand myself up straight & strong
Another  resolve to find wisdom within the pain.

Today I look out the window
Today's sun is shinning.
Today I face the sun  
and the shadows fall behind me
Today

People say don't think with your heart.
Well I don't, I think with my brain.
I have learned to isolate and manipulate.
To feel everything and to feel completely nothing.
It didn't take long to realize I was stuck in a deep deep hole.
I can't allow myself to love, even if I wanted to.
There is a huge wall I cant tear down.
One guy... can ruin your whole future.
My love life is gone without a trace.
My screams cannot be heard.
I can feel myself being numb.
I can feel the emptiness in my heart.
But I am not necessarily upset.
I am glad I wont let another male figure hurt me.
Cheers to my demons.
Adios to my once innocent soul.

As brutal as a desert drought!
Baren lands, hungry crops and starving mouths.
31 days seems like 62.
A neverending nightmare.
It is a marauding scavenger.
Devouring all that cross its path.

It starts off good with a lot of hope.
Before reality dawns and the struggle begins.
Each new day we limp forward.