Posted on by thetruthandtheliesofthejourney

On The Cusp of A Breakdown or Break-through

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I don’t know if these walls are getting smaller or if I am. Are they closing in or am I closing down? My mind is so weighted down, that I feel sick. I feel so unwell. More unwell than I have ever felt.

I want to mean something to someone. I wanna feel so wanted that it spews from my veins. I want to be surprised with a kiss so passionate that I feel dizzy when it slows to a stare. I need to be loved in a way that I feel safe for the first time in my life. How long have I waited? Waiting always….

I want to feel worth it. Worthy. Enough. Why is it so hard to do that? Why do I feel so small around everyone? There are stories you hear about people who cry out so loud that all at once, their voice is just..gone. I am shrinking smaller and smaller and grasping at straws for ways to keep moving.

It really doesn’t matter what I go through, and how hard those things are. People just assume that I will be ok and keep going and going like I am untouchable, unstoppable. Well, here’s a secret that evidently no one has figured out yet.. I am not bulletproof. And the holes have become so many that every secret and every ache and every pierce are seeping out every single one of them.

I have made excuses for my heartaches and I have tried to explain them away to protect the embarrassment of another failed attempt to love deeply and be loved deeply and entirely. However, I can not hide what I have no more room for inside of me.

I am sleeping alone every night now. Night after night, I go to bed wondering how much more silence I can endure. I am not alone in this house. Just in this bed, in my thoughts, in my heart, in this pain, and in a love that is not reciprocated in a way that I deserve. Because if it was, I wouldn’t be in this pain. I wouldn’t express it and not feel safe afterwards. There is no rescue. There is no Knight in shining armor. I can see, just like always, that they won’t fight for me, and that is enough to fully break me. What is so hard about it? Fight! Love me the way I deserve. Help me. I feel pathetic that I have begged for years for what is the bare minimum in love.

I feel like I am hiding in someone else’s house. Someone else’s life. And I am not welcome anymore. I am just another item in this house in the way. I should be stuffed in a bag or a box and donated or placed in that building. That way, everyone can do what I must be getting in the way of.

I’ve had a headache for going on 2 weeks now. I feel like I’m done. Done giving and giving and giving. I am officially pouring from an empty cup. By the end of this, I will be the new villain in the story. Not the person who has been bent and broken and drained of everything I was filled with.

Karma is a fickle little thing. They say that we get exactly what we deserve. Well, can you please tell them that I get it now, and I don’t need to learn anymore? Whoever they are…..

I don’t know why I cleaned this house. I don’t know why I am throwing all of my things away, things that have meant so much to me over the years. They don’t seem to mean anything to me now. Still, throwing them away still will never make it enough. It’s never enough. There’s always something after that I am doing wrong. Even my feelings are wrong and in the way.

Maybe by the end of this, I will breakthrough and get to light at the end of the tunnel. Lord knows it’s past time for a love that I truly deserve. But it’s different. It’s a love that is waiting at the end that is just for myself. Finally showing passion and intimacy and grace to myself that I have never been able to show before.

But I’m not there yet. I am in this room, alone day after day after day. Hurting and broken, and having to go through it in a breakdown…..

Posted on by thetruthandtheliesofthejourney

Peace In The City

Who wouldn’t love this view? Right? I have slipped into a dress up scheme for myself while being here. Today, I am the southern ‘Carrie Bradshaw’. Last night, I washed my hair, got a decent night’s sleep, and this morning, I even made it downstairs in time for the breakfast that broke my wallet for the stay here.

The decor was nothing if not exquisite. Once done eating, I decided to do a natural southern Saturday activity. Yard sales. I only went to two, but I found the most adorable shoes and jewelry. More importantly, I was instantly reminded of the real reason that I actually like to frequent yard sales. The company, the companionship, and the stories. I met two different women today.

The first yard sale, I met a wonderful woman in her 60s who was fast-coasting towards retirement and trying to hang on at her job to 67 to get the full effect of her retirement she had worked so hard for. Her friend showed up and the 3 of us laughed and talked about real-life stuff that was really relevant in all three of our lives. I honestly didn’t want to leave them. I craved the company, but I didn’t dare wear out my welcome. They are the ones who told me there was a close of house sale at the end of the street.

I drove down about a block and a half and sure enough, there was my second and final yard sale, mostly because I had already almost spent the $40 I had allotted for myself for yard sales. This nice lady sat at a table with a sister and a granddaughter and chain-smoked, which I admit, grossed me out having just quit back in October of last year. However, I digress because the conversation was worth biting through.

The sale they were having was at their grandmother’s house. They were probably in their 50s. I found cool jewelry there and found out the main seller of the yard sale made it by hand and was sitting at the table teaching her granddaughter to make it.

I spoke to them about having not long ago been a part of the sale of my own grandparents house. Which led to telling them that I had lost my grandparents and my mom back to back. Once telling them how my mom passed away, the sister pointed at the other lady and said that she too was a type 2 diabetic and was not taking care of herself. This, if you haven’t caught on, is what led to my mother’s passing.

I immediately felt an urgency to beg her to take care of herself and take every second of it so seriously. And before I knew it, I was saying it out loud to her. She received it well and actually seemed concerning when I explained to her that it was a most unpleasant passing to witness and be a part of, made much worse being my sweet mother.

Next was an uneventful trip to walmart and then back here to my hotel. I need to mention that although having two umbrellas in the car, not a one was inside walmart with me and I got drenched running to my car.

Back at the hotel, I decided to change into one of the very cute shirts I had purchased and go get a few things out of the car. It’s so beautiful how a cute outfit can make you feel good about yourself. And it did. I mean, it is, currently.

Here I sit, in a gorgeous location outside the corner of the hotel, with a beautiful view of the architecture and seemingly religious stain-glassed windows, writing.

So, how might this night end or what could it turn into? I look forward to sharing that soon…..

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I Stayed For The Flowers

I can admit that this is not where I saw myself being at when I look back 7 to 8 years ago. I honestly would have thought that I would finally be living my happily ever after. But alas, that is not at all where I sit. No, I sit in a hotel…alone. There’s no vacation amiss, there’s no couple escape, and I’m not here to visit a friend. I’m here desperately seeking some remnants of peace. I have never been so weighted down in every area of my life all at the same time. It’s though the weight of a skyrise building is sitting on top of me.

To make things more soaked with dark clouds, I have been unable to write since my mother passed away almost 2 years ago.

I have died inside over and over since 2021. My heart has been trampled on by every force you could think up. And I could never even make it up. It’s real and I wish it wasn’t. Loneliness, bad health news and changes, betrayal, death, abandonment…. You name it, it has rolled me under an 18-wheeler in a back and forth motion for 4 years.

I have never experienced feeling at the same time so scared, and feeling so unwanted and unloved sitting at this hotel tonight. I’m admitting out loud right now finally, at almost 41 years old, that I want what I deserve. I’m not sure everything that should be on that list, but I know for sure that at the least, currently, that I know I deserve to feel safe. I deserve to feel like I am not faulted for being scared or being who I am. I deserve to express what has hurt me, and when I am sad. I deserve to be comforted. I deserve romance. I deserve respect and honor. I deserve to be protected when I am in danger, and I deserve to be loved the way that I love.

I’m standing outside my room right now overlooking the pool writing this. Down by the pool, of all things that could be going on, is bounds of laughter and community. I met some of them down in the lobby today. You see, there’s a beautiful wedding going to happen tomorrow. I am just so grateful that it’s not going to be here. It’s enough to hear them all laughing and discussing love while reminiscing about all of their histories and relationships. I am not salty about them. I believe in love. I am just not 100% I have ever understood it. Ever. Right when I think I am experiencing exactly what love should feel like for me, the entire rug gets swiped right out from under me.

I have a home. I know I am not there right now, but I do have one. Well, I did. I don’t know if I have one anymore. A part of me hopes I do. The other part of me doesn’t know if it was ever truly a real home. Every year there has been spent one moment in absolute turmoil, and then the next minute having make up days for all the turmoil and then wash, rinse, and repeat.

I have spent years helping make that house into a home. It has one of the most beautiful porches I have ever had the pleasure of helping make an actual porch for a home. It’s my favorite thing to enjoy and look at at that house. Picture rocking chairs, a swing, and flowers, flowers, and garden everywhere. When things are really bad, sometimes I wonder to myself, am I staying for the flowers? It is a prominent question I have pondered to myself many many times.

How could I not have all of these things running through my mind, right? I mean, after all, I wouldn’t be in this hotel if the turmoil had not became just too much for me to literally bare anymore.

I have loved him since day one. I used to be able to say it has never faltered, my love. But one can only have unwavering love for so long without the same reciprocation before they cave in and collapse. After a barrel of betrayal, questioning why I am not enough, and realizing that literally no one around me cares if drop unconscious right in front of them due to arguing, stress and anger because of very serious health issues that are happening right now, I met my limit that I could no longer look in the face. All I could think is to get by myself so I could stop from instantly collapsing.

I’m sure you’re wondering if has gotten any better? The short answer is no. No one has ever considered me worth it enough to chase me proving their love for me. So, I have booked two more days. How ironic it is that I will check out on Memorial Day.

There’s a gorgeous bar here, and because of my health, I can’t have a single drink. I would love to be sitting here writing this with a glass of wine.

Today, instead of sweet nothing texts, he did what I thought he would do based on his behavior as of late. By the afternoon, in the few texts we have sent each other, I could instantly tell that his mood and view had changed. All of sudden, the space that I need, and the care that I need, took a backseat as usual and it became about the space that he needed and the anguish that he was feeling. It’s not that his feelings don’t matter. That’s the point. It seems as though only his feelings ever matter. I feel small. I feel less than in his eyes. Sometimes I think he’s only with me out of pity and the inability to ask me to leave. Even though he just “proposed” to me less than 2 months ago. When I really think about it, I am being put through a tailspin. Do you want me all the time? Or do you only want me when I am sick or things are seemingly good? Please tell me because I am crumbling like a rockslide. You can only have me if you love all of me.

You can not erupt every time things get hard. I have loved you and cared for you wholeheartedly through all of your darkest times and I would continue to, even right now, if you can do the same. That is why I am here at this hotel. And the reason it might have took so long to take this space could maybe, possibly be…..that I stayed for the flowers.

Posted on by thetruthandtheliesofthejourney

Let Them Come

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And I have dawned these great dark seas and jungles before

They have long come for me. I have twisted in their wrath and shook in their cold as the sweat of their toxins ran down my brow

You who seeks to protect me while destroying me, what are you truly seeking?

For your paranoia has made you a fool. A tyrant, yeast in its palm.

Calling yourself holy while riddled with holes seeping poison.

I am the keeper of this forest of green. My winds are strong, the brown of my dirt is beastly, and the shake of my ground is earth shattering.

So, who are you to call upon my land? You bring your dented sword to fight the poachers while simultaneously leading them straight to my centers.

Sometimes you want so much to be the keeper, to be the wrath of good, to be the honest gallant, but find that while fighting these hard battles and stepping with agony through each field, that you are the villain you’ve been running from.

So, step aside and let this evil you bring with you come for me. Kneel while they tear me flesh from flesh. Turn away your head while they gnash my teeth away.

Let. Them. Come.

For they know who I am.

I have spent much in solitude in preparation for your treachery.

My heart guarded with the thickest of water from the deepest and darkest seas.

If I fall in defeat, you will still be there kneeling, and you and your army will be swallowed by my earth. You will drown in the water of my roots and in turn, revive me again.

And there I shall be in my forest of green yet again, with you beneath my beastly brown, and sentenced to a lifetime of earthquakes beneath my worn feet.

So, let them come.

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Posted on by thetruthandtheliesofthejourney

I Wish

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I wish.

I wish I could go back.

Back to when we were happy. Back to when that connection I thought we had was everything to me.

During this pain, there have been times where I wish I could go back and never respond to that first message.

I have wished to unlove you.

In my lowest points, I’ve caught myself wishing I was enough.

In my angrier points, I’ve wished you were enough.

I wish I could go back.

I wish I could go back.

Back to when I’d catch you looking at me, and I truly believed that it was true love you were feeling as glared at me.

It’s replaced now in my mind.

I think back to those moments and can only see you thinking to yourself, debating, measuring me up like I’m on an auction table.

I wish I could go back.

I wish I could feel that heat that I felt so intensely in the beginning.

I wish I could soak up the passion as we met after not seeing each other for 3 weeks.

I long to feel that sensual yearn.

Instead, I am cursed with a new yearn.

I yearn for this pain to be over.

I’ve contemplated taking matters into my own hands.

Because I wish.

I wish I didn’t feel this.

I wish.

I wish this never happened.

I wish people and you would stop saying that it’s going to be ok.

It’s not ok.

I’m not ok.

I wish.

I wish it was.

I wish I was.

I wish I could have seen truth sooner.

Who has this love made me?

All this work I’ve done on myself and this love I thought was so powerful.

I felt.

I felt I was the best version of myself that I have ever been.

I had to be wrong. Right?

How could that be?

How could that be when the me now sits here, greasy hair, eyes so puffy and swollen that my vision is blurred.

This is the best version of me?

I wish.

I wish I could go back.

I wish I could go back to 5 years of caring and nurturing and feeling more unappreciated than I had or have ever felt.

I wish I could go back.

I wish I could go back to tiptoeing around you for so many years.

You could call me a ballerina.

Ironic.

Because I stumble over flat surfaces.

I wish.

I wish you would have healed and been truly ready for my love before you sought me out.

I wish I could go back.

I wish I could go back and shake myself to attention when each and every red flag was waved in my face like a surrender.

I wish.

I wish I couldn’t think. Just for one night.

I wish I couldn’t imagine in detail all the ways that you’ve hurt me.

I wish.

I wish I knew why.

I wish.

I wish to forget.

I wish to amnesia myself into ignorance.

I wish.

I wish you were a better man.

I wish.

I wish I could truly answer why I’m still at this house.

You know, the one we made a home?

You know, the one we seeded gardens at?

You know, the one where we made love and built love?

You know, the one where we’ve both known near death sickness?

Do you remember laying in that bed, near death, unable to do for yourself?

I wish.

I wish you could have been in my mind.

I pureed your food by hand.

I cleansed your body, even parts of you that probably no woman, other than your mother had been that close to.

I wish.

I wish I knew then that your love for me had already faded and been shaken.

I wish.

I wish I wasn’t a fool.

I wish.

I wish you were capable of the love I’ve felt for all of these years.

I wish.

I wish you were capable of feeling the same pain and heartbreak that I now feel.

I wish.

I wish I could say I could forgive you.

I wish.

I wish that I could say that we will get through this.

I wish that you could have just kept your eyes on me, as I have kept mine on you.

I wish.

I wish I didn’t love you, like you didn’t love me.

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Baby Blues: The Calling

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I’ve walked through this forest many times before.

Dressed in a form-fitting, light baby blue, long flowing dress, down to my ankles.

It’s long sleeve, but off both the shoulders.

Long red hair, messy and unkept, stretched down the middle of my back.

The rain pours down as I roam this mossy family of wood and green.

My dress soaked, nipples protruding through so delicate.

I hold the bottom of my flowy dress up with both hands as I’m running in slow motion,

Hair slapping the back of my shoulder blades.

Water trickles slowly down my cupid’s bow and drips down slowly on my bottom lip.

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I stop urgently right in a circle of trees, above their flourishing green branches

As I hear them call me to attention.

I’m alone here again as I have been many times before.

I kneel in shame, dress covering my feet and body now.

I sense their disappointment in my loneliness and newfound pain,

As they were never expecting me back before their graces in this position again.

A rush of wind tornadoes through this forest in an instant.

They bow to the power of it and in this instant, all of their branches turn brown and fall away,

Their beauty stripped from their bones.

And this forest goes dark, done with the likes of me.

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I am at once overcome with fear and heartbreak.

They have spoken their answers to me and left me there in my ruins.

A great lesson from my ancestry has rushed over me as even the night cicadas quiet.

As if a great respect falls across this entire forest in the finality of this demand passed from them

to me.

I slowly push off of the ground, head hung in complete defeat knowing the path I have laid before

myself.

I have put myself here in this position and won’t look away from what needs to be done.

A love.

A new feeling.

A path newly taken.

All fleeting and seemingly slipping right out of my fingers.

I keep my composure because I am not unfamiliar with losing things, or being without.

I am but a dark bird, a cast out angel with broken wings on a short journey through this world,

through this forest.

The news of my fellow tree’s advice has stricken me to tears as I walk slower than I ever have

Through this forest.

I walk slow to avoid facing what is on the other side of it. Facing the truth.

I can’t fathom where things seem to go wrong, but they do.

And the forest calls me here when it is time for the awakening that I need.

I have learned enough in this forest through the times that when I reach the edge of it,

I will do so with my head up, peeking forward.

I am but an entity full of many human mistakes.

An ora of nothing at times, quietly observing, hoping to be discovered so I can merely scream,

“Yes! It’s me! You have found me, and I am here, in full surrender!”

But for now, I walk slowly to the edge of this forest, feeting sinking into the most green moss

I have ever seen.

Wetness drying in an instant, and the horrible sun has hit my skin and taken my shield away.

Return I go to the shade along the treeline to protect the burning,

But it offers me no solice to the burning inside…….

I rip the bottom off of this dress weighting me down, along with the sleeves once

Draping off of these boney shoulders.

I walk now with a purpose. An answer. A goal. A path. A story continued..

I feel the wind at my back, pushing me forward.

And I go always where it blows me.

Photo by Yaroslav Shuraev on Pexels.com
Photo by Yaroslav Shuraev on Pexels.com
Photo by Yaroslav Shuraev on Pexels.com
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Candlelight for One

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It’s amazing when a hard, unexpected rain falls down, that that’s right when you have no umbrella. Life is very much like that. Family is very much like that. And most of all, love is very much like that.

In theory, most want love and family, friends and a social life, and great success in life. However, there are some of us out there that find it profoundly moot to follow the same path over and over expecting different results.

It’s absolutely exhausting trying so hard to complete a pattern in your life with a fruitful end. True colors always show, and not many are truly capable of being selfless over selfish, although there are a select few, I will even admit. And in this real world, well, that’s a definitely deal breaker, being on the weighted selfish side of the stomping.

So, here I sit, alone per usual. Obviously a little bitter, and maybe even borderline pouting, and not afraid at all of expressing it. Currently extremely doubtful of a crowd-filled future, and seeing clearly the value and stone coldness of truth. But also humbled by the experience.

I’ve turned all of the lights off in my house. I’m quite sure it’s for multiple reasons. One being that I am all but nearing jump off of the cliff of losing everything, and lights turned off equals less power being used on planet USA. [Insert the echoes of my grandfather’s voice scolding me to turn the lights off at 10, here.]

However, I would say the reason that takes precedence over all others would be the fact that here, alone in this house, I wanted only the glow of the candles I have lit. Or the topper lit up at the top of my undecorated Christmas tree. I can bare no more light than that on this bitter night. It makes me feel less small, less abandoned, less sad.

And now, take part in this pity party with me.

I have never experienced such a deafness in my small world, as those around you hearing your cries of sadness and projected fear, and merely turning their head as if there’s something God-awful in my teeth. But, I regress. I, probably more than anyone, know that there are some paths in your life that are roughly designed for one. And I wholly and wildly accept that.

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I also acknowledge that I’ve spent a huge majority of my life purposely pushing people away, needing isolation and enjoying being alone. But when you are sick, it’s different feeling. There is a complete difference in enjoying being alone, and being so very lonely. I realize that now more than ever. It’s humbling. A truly faith-sucking experience and not personally recommended by me for self-revelation.

I love everyone. But in another way, I have given up on everyone. I don’t expect them to understand. Because I never allowed them to, and that’s my own fault. They mean the world to me, in ways they couldn’t possibly understand. But I’d be lying if I didn’t admit I feel entirely let down, and lost on how to fix that. I would find it easier to go back in time and do it differently, rather than try and fix it now.

I guess, all I can really do is keep continuing to press on as I have. Remaining strong for the one person I have here looking to me to make sure everything stays ok. Even though, deep down, I don’t even know what that means anymore. I’m not truly angry or as bitter as I let on. I love everyone fully with my entire heart. And honestly, I know the trials of life can take us in 50 different directions. We get caught up in our own stuff, and sometimes, we forget that maybe there’s someone out there, very close to us, suffering, scared, and just needing to be told, “Hey, I am here, and I love you.” And, “You’re doing good.”

Well, I am here. And I love you. And you’re doing amazing. Whoever you are out there reading this….

Posted on by thetruthandtheliesofthejourney

Revolution

black and gold face paint
Photo by Ivan Siarbolin on Pexels.com

But I feel a revolution on the rise..

With their beautiful black skin,

and my pale blue eyes.

We’ll link up our arms,

and plow through this hate.

Go on, hide in your bunkers,

we’ll knock down the gate.

 

The time has come to hear us.

You won’t be able to drown us out.

We’re coming out in masses,

and we’re gonna scream and shout.

 

This fight ends with victory,

finally for us this time.

You’ll be the ones behind the barriers,

where the punishments will finally fit the crimes.

 

ancient armor black and white chivalry
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Posted on by thetruthandtheliesofthejourney

I Want To Live, I Want To Breathe..

Photo by Connor Danylenko on Pexels.com
Photo by Connor Danylenko on Pexels.com

Change, Change, Change…

We scream out.
They laugh, they point, and they all doubt.
We take a knee,
And beg and plead,
We Scream out gasping…

I CAN’T BREATHE!

Now, the tides have washed away,
and death tolls, still they rise.
No one is listening,
many just turning their heads,
even the seemingly wise.

So at the last of all our strength,
We armor up.
We kiss our peace,
before we step out the door.
We’ve tried everything else, now’s the time,
we’ll destroy it all,
from the ceiling to the floor.

Can you hear us now?
Brothers and sisters we tried.
We knelt down defenseless,
while you beat us down til we cried.

But now the fight is on,
and we’ll scream until at last…
You see us as your equal,
and finally leave separation in the past.

You see, we just want justice.
And to tuck our children in without panic.
These heartaches, they have been weighing down,
causing us to be completely manic.

These are our last attempts at peace,
and yet you are surprised?
That we would seem overly violent,
after trying to be peaceful,
like you’ve been hypnotized.

You have no idea,
how hard these generations have been.
To be here decades later,
still fighting off these same violent trends.

We were born from a mother and a father,
just the same as you and your kin.
Yet always treated differently,
simply because the color of our skin.

We want our loved ones safe from harm,
we want a justified end.
We won’t stop and won’t be silenced,
Til we’re acknowledged face to face, and given a respectful mend.

So, stand up for something,
or get out of our way.
We’re going to tear the current kingdom down,
We’re gonna rebuild,
join hands in this nation,
and it starts today.

Join us or get left behind,
We’ll all come out, and if needed, push and shove.
No more death for simply existing,
This new world is gonna bring a brotherhood of love….

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Sometimes Goodbyes are Silent.

my life

You can go your whole life and think you know someone. Hell, you can go your entire life and think you know yourself. The truth is, humans are everchanging. We are weak creatures. Even the seemingly strong. No matter what breed of human we are, we have human emotions. They are cruel. They are sorcery. Truly. And they will constantly lie to you.

Every time I get by myself, I try and contemplate choices I have, emotions I have, even people I have. It’s hard. Truly, you have to admit to yourself that no one is ever there right when you need them. And if your life has been a struggle, such as mine, no one is there…ever.

But when you live a life such as that in a constant, you learn to cope with those facts. Your choices revolve around what you can do to move forward. Not what other people can do for you. And it can be beneficial. Sad, but beneficial. Lonely, but after each struggle, rewarding.

We pay for the things we create. Chaos, pain, sadness, etc. No matter how much time goes by, we pay. We burn bridges, and I mean set them afire. Watch them burn with smiles on our faces, and then years later, wish we could cross over them one more time. We are selfish beings.

As parents, we raise our children, all the while destroying them. Turning them into next generation of selfish humans. We try and protect them, so much that we harm them. And sometimes as parents, we give up for a moment, thinking they would be better off without us. No decision we make seems good enough. And their smiles are sometimes only in pictures, no matter how much you tried to make it different.

We begin to believe that this world is not for us. Period. Plain and simple. Giving in seems like a freedom we’ve been searching for our entire lives. We don’t tell anyone, but sometimes in silence, we dream of closing our eyes and maybe sleeping forever. We look at that child. We don’t want to leave them, but this world is taking them from us. Our own foolish mistakes and mishaps have taken them from us.

So, when we kiss them goodnight, or talk on the phone, we hold onto that moment. Just in case. Just in case we go and sleep in peace for a little longer than normal.

Their little faces replay over and over in our minds, and every day, sometimes every minute, is a choice to keep fighting for them.

So, we woke up today. We may only be existing, but we are awake. And the fight goes on. And we’ll put that goodbye away in silence for a little longer.

Children, no matter what, take heed, we carry a love for you that you will only ever understand if you bear a child yourself. And love is not always easy. Smile once more, for it is a reward we look for in the darkest of moments. And we are counting on it.