Just Being Me

I didn’t want to be a survivor.

I wanted more than anything to be what I thought

was normal so that I could fit in,

feel accepted and loved,

but that didn’t happen.

The more I tried to be like everyone else,

the more separate and rejected I felt.

I thought I wasn’t trying hard enough,

so I pushed and tried even harder,

and all it did was make me feel worse.

It wasn’t until I turned toward the parts

of me that felt most hurt, most rejected,

most misunderstood, and most unwanted,

That I began to truly heal.

The answer was far more simple

than I made it out to be…

All I had to do was be me.