Picture Perfect

I used to dream
of a picture perfect life.
Perfect house, perfect kids,
perfect job.

Then I realized that perfection
is unattainable,
and I made the catastrophic mistake
of trying to look perfect instead.

The mental strain
of pretending to be someone I wasn't
took its toll,
and separated me from joy.

No one has
a picture perfect life,
although it may seem that way
from the outside.

Life can be wonderful,
beautiful and good,
but never perfect,
and that's okay.

So I tore up the picture
of the life I thought I'd have
and found joy
in the one I've been given.

Alive

Your success in life is not measured
by your accomplishments.

Your worth is not measured
by what others think of you.

Your intelligence, your income, your body, your age --
these things don't define you.

Only you can do that.

It doesn't matter
how many times you've fallen short,
how many scars you've accumulated,
how much you have yet to learn.

What matters is that you're alive,
that you're striving with the rest of us,
playing wrong notes with panache.

I pray that on those days
when you feel empty and alone,
you will lift your eyes to the sky
and keep your hope alive.

Write Your Story

Write your story
on the canvas of your heart
in living color.

Live your story,
love your story,
give it all you've got.

Learn to dance
through shadow and light.
Make your peace with darkness.

Move with grace
through sorrow and joy.
Don't let your pain be wasted.

Work like it matters,
play like it doesn't,
and never be ashamed of who you are.

Rise When You Fall

Now that you're grown up,
are your dreams still alive?
Are you confident and hopeful,
do you have the same drive?

Life can steal your joy,
but you can steal it back.
Your dreams will guide you
when you get off track.

Those things you longed to be,
you can be them still.
There's always a way
when you can find the will.

Remember those dreams
you had when you were small.
And remember to rise
every time you fall.

When You Were Small

Remember those dreams
you had when you were small,
when you could be anything,
anything at all?

Remember how it felt
to believe in yourself,
to feel confidence, courage,
and nothing else?

The influence of fear
and those negative voices
had no impact at all
on your everyday choices.

You were free to dream,
free to live,
free to love,
free to give.

No goal was too big,
no mountain too steep,
no distance too great,
no ocean too deep.

Remember those dreams,
and who you wanted to be.
Remember them
so you can inspire me.

Spark

Who is this stranger, veiled in shadow?

Surely she is not like me.

She looks different, acts different, talks different, walks different.

We could not be less alike.

But there is a hint of something,

a spark of recognition.

I have never seen her before,

and yet ... something in her eyes calls to me.

Could it be that she knows laughter,

that she knows pain?

Does she know how it feels to long for love?

Does she smile, does she cry,

does she have sleepless nights?

Perhaps we both know

the joy of victory

and the sting of defeat.

Different cultures, different Gods,

different worlds, different lives,

but the same humanity,

the same craving for understanding.

Who is this stranger, veiled in shadow?

In every way that truly matters,

she is just like me.

Light in the Dark

This is for the days when you feel empty inside,
for the moments when you want to run and hide.

This is for the heartaches, the heartbreaks and pain,
through the dark and the cold, through the fog and the rain.

This is for the dreams that never came true,
for the times when no one knows how it feels to be you.

Through the storm, through the night,
through the struggle, through the fight,
you are seen, you are known,
in the dark there is light.