Be proud of changing your clothes,
Be proud of waking up in the morning-
Or the afternoon.
Be proud of throwing your hair up into a ratty ponytail,
Or eating a granola bar.
Be proud of the daydreams you envision in bed, and make sure to keep count of them, and which ones were the prettiest.
Be proud of looking out your window and listening to the birds sing.
Be proud of talking to yourself, or of making any sound at all.
My darling, so few people understand pain like we do.
Everyone feels emotional pain,
But not many people feel the desperate urge to jump out of their own mind like it's a high rise on fire.
Survival is hard enough on its own without feeling guilty about all the things you did not do.
Be proud of opening your eyes,
Be proud of converting oxygen into carbon dioxide,
Be proud of allowing your body to live another day.
The world has taught you that to hate yourself is a virtue-
That, guilt is attractive, and shame is the latest in spring fashion.
These lessons have become so powerful, to deny them might seem like the crumbling of our society.
But my love,
You are not here to work a job.
You are not here to wake up at 6 am,
You are not here to go to school, to make babies, or to change the world.
You're not here to hate your life,
And you're not here to punish yourself for the look of disappointment in another's eyes.
You have one simple task on this planet, and it is not making yourself miserable living by the established 'rules' of a society who starve children and call it law.
The greatest people on this planet lived up to no one's expectations but their own.
Nelson Mandela,
Galileo Galilee,
Shakespeare,
Michaelangelo,
Jesus Christ,
None of them followed the laws of society,
And yet here they are,
Hundreds to thousands of years later,
Remembered for changing the world-
Be proud of you.
Be proud of you as I am,
As they would be.
You are learning to live,
To survive,
To defeat the demons in your head.
Live for you, my dear, and be proud of being here.
YOU ARE READING
Beneath the Wave
PoetryA collection of poems I write, mostly about my mental health. Disclaimer: Some poems are very dark. They discuss my trials and feelings about my mental health issues and my battle against sickness. Poetry has always been an outlet for all of the dar...
