Charlie Nine

How Often ?

How often do you look inside,

and find the parts you try to hide?

The dreams you lost, the fear you keep,

the thoughts that stir when you\'re half-asleep?

 

How often do you walk away,

from chances you meant to take that day?

Do you watch the world go passing by,

and feel too small to even try?

 

How often do you fall, then crawl,

wishing you could stand up tall?

But something holds you in the dirt

a voice that whispers, “you’ll get hurt.”

 

How often do you speak your mind,

and leave the careful words behind?

Or search for truth in what you feel,

even if it cuts, even if it\'s real?

 

How often do you cry alone,

in quiet rooms that feel like stone?

And still, somehow, you wipe your eyes

and face the day before sunrise.

 

How often do you trust what\'s new,

the road ahead with no clear view?

Or sit and stare at empty air,

at things you wish were really there?

 

How often do you try to see

the parts of you you hide so deep?

To open up, to take the chance

on love, on hope, on sweet romance?

 

How often do you ride the wave,

let go, be bold, be less afraid?

Or do you laugh, or break the rules,

play your part and bend the tools?

 

But through the dark and through the light,

through every wrong, through every right

when all is lost or all is won,

when storms are gone and skies are sun

 

Just be yourself—no need to prove,

no need to run, no need to move.

You’re enough in every place

in every fall, in every grace.