Me in the Mirror

One of the hardest parts of healing

is looking at yourself in the mirror

and realizing you need to.

It is one thing to have the scars

the real ones, the ones you try to hide

and the emotional ones

the ones you push behind a silly smile.

You can keep the scars

let them stay there

let them destroy you

from the inside, out.

You can let them heal

open up, tell people they exist

and let your smile that used to be a mask

become oh so very real

But there's a step in between

and it's the hardest one

it's easy to let your scars fester

and it's easy for your smile to become real

But it's hard to say

"I need to heal,

I need to accept help,

I need these scars to disappear"

They become a coping mechanism,

another day, another scar,

and they become part of you,

hiding who you truly are.

But today,

I'm looking at me in the mirror

and telling those scars

that it's time to go

I'm ready to start the process,

I'm ready to open up,

ready to get rid of the scars

and become who I've always dreamed I could be.