Sometime... Poem by Valerie Lennox

Sometime I need to shake off the fears
Push doubts and maybes aside
Sometime I have to just take the plunge
Although I'm shaking inside
Sometime I just have to say Yes
Even when my brain's screaming NO!
And go with the moment, ride along with the tide
And jump in where it's frightening to go.

Peeling away at the layers I've grown
Of self doubt and dread and mistrust
Tearing away the veil of defence
And tearing down walls I'm hiding behind
Demolishing brick by crumbling brick
The bastions I've built to protect
Till all that is left is my vulnerable self
Naked and shivering with fright

Sometime in order to live, I must die
To the fears that keep me enchained
I need to be open to feel once again
And risk being damaged or harmed
Because being numb is no way to live, its like death,
Though alive, I decay from inside
And slowly dissolve into purposelessness
Till there's nothing left but a wraith

Sometime I need to choose Life and embrace
Whatever it brings to my heart
Even pain is better than no feeling at all
And the risk I may take may not be peril, but escape
From the shrouds of oblivion
To the freedom of feeling, be it joy, be it pain
It's living, it's Life, it's reaching out to another
It's hope, it's believing, moving forward, it's faith.

Sometime I'll need to step up to the light
Facing Life with my head held up high
Unshackle the bonds, cast off the lines
And sail into the deep, sails filled with life
To weather the storms, to bask in the sun
To ride with the winds, be they stormy or fair
Living, not mere existing, with my heart open and true
Sometime, is it now? Willingly I must move towards Life.