"Be All You Can Be," says the television.
"1800-USA-ARMY."
I almost chose it, the life the TV tells me.
I almost went away,
To be a brother-in-arms.
Now, I'm thinking about being a brother-in-a-frat-house,
it hardly compares, but here I am searching
So I can be happy.
An 8 year plan for self-actualization.
Maslow would laugh; at the Army ad, at me, and at everyone who follows a path they didn't carve into rock with a spoon.

all i want in life
is to become everything
i am capable of becoming

i must be
who i can be

False leaders only want to control us
They create lies and tell us we are born impure and imperfect
never realizing we were created to be perfect
with a mind so susceptible to manipulation
we believe and believe, but all paths lead to the same door
I've opened it,  we all  hold the key to end this war

Do not allow your voice
to be heard only in
the lullabies of sad songs.
You create the world you see.
Take it in your hands
and squeeze.

It's the first time I feel my heart is whole, unbroken and full

I am proud that I pushed myself for so long, and finally exceeded this glass ceiling that I unconsciously created.

I reached a place of self actualization

A place I thought was made up for traumatized people to aspire to.

I feel that for once my heart is actually mine.

That my heart is home

Home for me not the people that abandoned me.

What a feeling.

I learned my worth

And I feel free

*Thank you.