It'll never be easy
To say what you have to say.
To do what you need to do.
But that's why it's so important
that you see it through.

Not everyone has a mother or father.
Some don't have a sister or brother.
Some feel they don't have anyone.
Some worry they'll always be alone.
Like no one will ever love them.
Fight for them.
But what they don't realize is they have had all of that all along.
Because everyone has a heart.
A heart that beats for you.
Breaks with you.
Heals with you.
A heart that dies with you.
You always wondered
how you keep going.
It's because the heart is a fighter.
And you have a heart.
Which means you have
The heart of a fighter.
But it's up to you
to do something with it.

I wonder how much would change
I wonder how much we could do
If we stopped trying to rewind time.
Would you be happier?
Would your soul be more whole?
Would you feel more or less in control?
The truth is, nothing good can come
From living in the past
In a world where nothing
is meant to last

So many things went wrong.
So many things went right.
So many things keep me up at night.
But they aren't memories of us
or what we've been through.
What keeps me up at night
are the last words I said to you.

It's not easy to be me.
I don't imagine it's easy to be you.
It's not easy to be anything or anyone.
It's not easy to follow through.
It's not easy to give up. It's not easy to give in. It's not easy to keep people
from getting under your skin.
My point is, nothing is easy.
So, it's okay if you fail. Everyone's done it.
And just look where they are now.
Keep your head up, and you'll go far.

Dear stranger: it's no secret
that times have been hard for everyone.
But you're not everyone, are you?
Maybe you lost someone.
Maybe you lost yourself.
Maybe you've been asked to do more
than you signed up for. Whatever's going on,
I know it may seem like you're losing control. Like you don't have a choice.
However this poem finds you,
I hope you come to find that you DO
have a chance to have a choice.
A chance to raise your voice.
I hope that someday, you accept
that you are worthy of love.
That you stop feeling guilty you survived.
But most of all, I hope that someday,
you wake up and find yourself grateful and happy to be alive

"You don't understand"
"No, YOU don't understand!"
The truth is, none of us
can ever truly understand.
Because despite our need to be social,
to connect with each other,
our experiences, our feelings,
are ours alone. But that doesn't make connections we have with others any less meaningful. One more thing.
For what it's worth,
your feelings, your experiences, are valid.