137)
Think about this
and for the moment,
I will keep this
as brief as I can,
but think about your defining moment
and what you want this to be.
Think about your moment
in the bright lights
and the award goes to . . .
and there you are
the recipient of something
more amazing than you ever expected.
Think . . .
What do you want
your life to look like
and when do you want
the rest of your life to begin?
Is it now?
Think about your dreams . . .
. . . think about the wants
and needs, that are seeded
deep within your heart and soul.
Think about the moment of ignition
and the price of admission.
When do you want this to begin?
Is this something
that has to wait?
Or, no,
has your situation changed?
Has life altered,
which means the face of your dream
is no longer the same, but the truth
and desire in your heart
still wants the same thing
which means you’ll have to adjust your sights
and in the end, think about the wealth
of your satisfaction,
and ask yourself
what has to happen
to make my two ends meet?
It’s okay that dreams alter or change
or that players on your team
have switched sides
or play with someone else now.
That’s fine.
But it’s not fine to give in
or pack up your toys
and go home
unless, of course,
the street lights are about to come on
and Mom is still home
to make you dinner.
Or wait,
here’s another valid question,
are you ready to take the plunge?
Are you ready to take
the leap of faith
or do your fears of moving forward
keep you backwards
and stuck behind the walls you built
as a means of protection?
Are you free to move ahead
or are you still holding the useless items
that weigh you down
as your heaviest limitation?
I think this is important
to talk about,
or if nothing else,
I believe this is something
we need to think about.
You can lurk in the shallows
and never find your treasure
in the unexplored ocean,
or you can watch the world swim away
and never feel the waves
bathe over your head,
or . . .
you can take a chance,
you can accept the risk
and you can give the odds against you
something to talk about.
You can defy your fears
of the unknown
and if you do,
you can dive deeper than you
ever planned
and find your glory
wherever it may be.
138)
I think about the moment
before life took shape
and we were young.
I think about this
and the moments
when parents
sat in the stands and said something
like, you see him?
That’s my son.
I never had too many of these times,
and well, in part,
I was never an athlete,
and, in part,
I was confused and lost
and outraged about
my differences.
I took to the other side
of the cafeteria
when I was young.
I was in trouble,
yet, I never wanted to be.
I’d have chosen to be good,
if I was able to be good at it.
But it seemed that no,
it was easier for me to be in trouble
and this?
This was something that I was very good at.
I think about the way
memory
or how our common casualties
shape the future of our life,
which begins at the ground floor,
like a building,
built on the land of ghosts
who lived here
before the landscape changed.
I think back and I think about
our earliest memory
and how our memories
cause us to look back at “what was”
and live in the biased lies
of a life that no longer exists.
You do know
that the past is gone,
right?
It is only kept alive by us –
like life on life-support
only
we never learned that it was time
to pull the plug.
I am not the me from my past,
nor am I that small boy
anymore,
nor am I a mark
nor am I weak
or too timid
or afraid of
the bullies that beat me
in the second grade,
or the fifth,
or the sixth, nor am I the same person
who sought revenge
with a lighter and a Molotov cocktail.
The truth is,
I will never be back where I was,
at least not unless I go back,
and even still,
I am not weak nor fragile,
nor am I the same person
I was back when I was hurt
or ashamed, picked on,
or bullied.
So . . .
You can come out now, kid
all those ghosts are long gone
and all that’s left
is an amplified memory
that has mutated and grown
throughout the years
and in the end
what you remember,
no longer remains
and besides,
even if it did
no one will ever hurt you like that
again.
Trust me.
You are not the same little boy
that you used to be.
It’s okay to believe in yourself again, kid.
You are far more than you can imagine.
139)
Look to the light
and watch the sun as it comes from the east.
Look to the sky
because one thing is for sure,
she has never let you down
and she told you that she never will
she promised you this, so
believe her.
There was always a yesterday,
a today, as in the here and now,
and there will always be tomorrow;
only, before we go on
we have to remember
time is changing,
age is creeping,
and you and I
we are not getting any younger.
I have a side
that no one sees,
which is not altogether good
nor is this altogether bad.
I can be crazy though,
and some times
crazy is not good.
Then again,
there are other times
when it’s perfect to be crazy.
I like that kind of crazy.
I have a side,
hurt and scared
and yet, this is the same side
who hopes and wonders
and prays that one day,
I can share my life
like a kid shares his toys,
un-bullied and unblemished
and restored to a greater version;
and together, we can play
or we can watch something together,
like the old Saturday morning
cartoons,
just to be young again.
Oh and by the way,
and I say this often
and as I grow older,
I find that I say this more often
than not—
I feel bad for kids today . . .
they never had the chance
to grow up with good cartoons,
or listen to real music,
or have to work to find
a song that changed their life,
forever, and when they found the song
they had to cherish this
because this was before life
came with “On-Demand” features.
No.
We had to work for our passions
and as for the music
that changed us –
We had to work for this,
and we had to earn this
and so we did,
and we found out what happened
when we sat back
just to listen to a song
over and over,
so that you can learn every word
and wear them
on your sleeve.
Goodbye old self
the rejection
has nothing to do
with you
or who you really are.
No,
this is only a moment
for you to wake up
and realize there is a new life
in front of you.
So go forward,
don’t look back
and remember,
no two things
are ever the same
so stop blaming others
for something that happened
by the hand
of someone else.
You can come out now, kid.
The golden sun
is waiting for you,
and so is the sunshine on her lips.
The Written Addiction 