“I stayed with him hoping to discover a remedy to my pain.”

I do not feel ready to plant my roots on this earth without first drinking the water from the rivers of the world.

Darling, look how far you’ve come do you truly believe you are unable to rise from the ashes and grow new wings.

Those places will never be the same they are forever intertwined with the thought of you.

Darling, let go I promise you will never want to carry that pain again.

Her name is foreign on my tongue, I repeat it over and over and over in my head hoping one day it will sound familiar.

I was searching for relief in places I would never find peace.

She bloomed from the depths of darkness through the cracks she was brought to life by the sun.

I am ready to love the pieces that are weighing me down.

We were playing hide and seek with our shadows simply pretending to grasp for love we could not find in ourselves.

My mind is entangled in the thought of you.

She wanted someone that could swim to the depths of her ocean and not drown in the intensity of her soul.

I feel at home in places I’ve never been.

I am trying to find a way through this dark forest.

An endless fire burns within me whispers in my ear and encourages me to grow past what I can see.

My insecurities gave you too much power over me/ you were the catalyst to my healing/ but you are not the healer/ I am.

When will the leaves begin to change in this body of mine?

Here is the deepest secret nobody knows. Here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide. And this is the wonder that’s keeping the stars apart i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)

I need to remind myself all the time that being afraid of things going wrong, is not the way to make things right. All fear has ever done is try destroy any existing hope I have.

I hope you find someone who matches your passion and your efforts. Someone who is mentally and emotionally equipped enough to help build you back up in your time of need.

If your best efforts bring less than desirable results because your mental health is suffering, I hope you know you are still worthy and doing all that you can. You deserve to applaud yourself.

I still have time to do everything I intend on doing and becoming and I’m certainly not running out of time.

And suddenly, just like that, hope became knowledge. I was going to win. It was just a matter of when.

First our pleasures die – and then our hopes, and then our fears – and when these are dead, the debt is due dust claims dust – and we die too.

A great tennis career is something that a 15-year-old normally doesn’t have. I hope my example helps other teens believe they can accomplish things they never thought possible.