people glanced with arched eyebrows
and squinted stares,
they whispered to their friends
or make eye contact with another passer-by
had she seen herself before she left?
her fringe had been cut rather crooked,
and they thought she looked the fool.

If they really looked at her though,
they would see the dead despair in her eyes,
slumped shoulder
shielding a secret life.
They would see her weather beaten hands
that are tired.
she works seven days a week,
but doesn't see a penny of it,
and when she comes home
she has to fulfill her 'duties',
like a good wife.

her fringe is crooked
because she cut it herself,
by candlelight,
her hands shaking
fearing that he may see
and punish her
from straying from her 'duty'

You need consistency.

Relax. You're stressing yourself out.

Stick with it. If you never stick with anything, you will never get anywhere. Keep trying to make change.

You are not omnipotent. Any change you can make will be small. But this change, reaching your potential, will be multiplied by the small difference of many, many others. Together is how you will change the world.

You are a beautiful flower, in a universal garden.

You need to slow down. Do whatever you think will best relieve you of your anxiety.

I know you want to sleep. But you have to get up. I know the world seems unwelcoming today, but you need to do something, become something, that you can be proud of.

Why are you so lazy, and bad at working? You need to work harder, your dreams are not the dreams of the lazy.

Relax. You're stressing yourself out.

You aren't getting anywhere. You think you have more control than you do.

Why do you look at yourself like you're such a mess? People think you're more than that until they see your low self-esteem. Then your sloppy attitude repels them.

Just do your work.

Why does your work drain you, and leave you unfulfilled? You will never always like your work. But sometimes it is good.

You need to stop switching between wanting to be here and not. When you don't want to be here, everything is halting, and all your progress is stopping dead. Indeed, it's as though you are dead.

This isn't making you happy, is it.

I look out dead in the eyes and strangers are all I see
I wonder if they know my struggle, have they seen what I've seen?
And I promise I don't mean to be mean but
I got life in my grips and doom is screaming don't you dare slip
No I don't mean to be mean but it's better than being seen

And her smile makes me feel like I'm young again
Like I haven't been holding the world on my shoulders
Like I haven't stared death square in the eyes
Like I haven't tried to say goodbye so many times

Yeah life can get ugly, but what is it trying to tell you?
Cause it'll keep throwing punches until it gets through
Don't talk about my mother and no I'm not my father
I try my best I wanna be nothing like them
I step right and keep treading, trying to get farther.
Lessons learned and merits earned, I finally find what it takes

And some days
I just hold onto hope of operating at that same frequency
See, I've fighting to be free on the daily
I fight for what I love, no I don't love to fight
But on a warriors brain is the pleasure in the pain,
The beauty in the struggle,
No one battles in vain

And when I feel like I can't fight anymore
It's the opportunities that come knocking
You don't grow stronger unless you strain
Life won't get brighter without a little rain

So I'll dance in the rain
And smile through the strain
Until I leave this place
Feel the breeze on my face
As I walk off the pain
For miles and miles
It's the beauty in the struggle

The funniest thing about endings
Is they rarely look like endings
They are wrapped in smiles
And plastered with words
Meant to sting but not burn
They wear hope like a jacket
Which they leave on the floor after a night you can't remember
The thing about endings
The key to their masquerade
Is the fact
That they look like beginnings.

Living in a freedom does not always mean life will be easy. In times of hardship if one keeps their liberty they still have hope of reaching the stars.