I fought for the confidence
To say I like who I am

To believe that I am worth the war
And I am proud of this victory
Above any other

In the past
I only saw what I hated

Later I saw
Qualities in me that I loved

Now I see only
Someone who is loved

Now I realize they are too different things
To be lovely and to be loved

And I'd rather be the latter

You never said I was too much
But you acted like I was

So I curled up to make myself smaller
I pretended I didn't know so I was dumber
I put a break between every action
And my reaction so I could protect myself
And suddenly I was a problem
And the solution was to break me
And really it's not that hard
To destroy something

But no one tells you that breaks make micro fractures
And life's regular wear makes you break even faster

That shrinking meant letting part of you die
So it's slower, it takes longer to again be that high

And by the time you learn that people loved you as you were
You're so far away from the past, you can no longer see her

But if you can get back to the beginning
Where you were incredible
Simply because you were living

All the growth and intelligence
Back to a personality effervescent
You'll be rooted all the more firmly in your present

Because now you'll know that ground lost
Is not progress irredeemable
But a fight that can be won again
And royalty is more that an environment regal

I'll never tell you this
But part of me is still that 11 year old
Who broke down crying to you.

The one who saw you sob
Like you never had before

The one who heard you say
That my words hurt you

That little girl is still here trying to figure out
How to bring up how she feels
Without hurting anyone else