Remember the Bad Days

I want you to remember the bad days

Not out of fear,

But out of pride.

Do you remember the time you crawled

under your bed and cried for hours?

The locked bathrooms, the helpline numbers,

the shaking hand, the quaking breath.

I want you to know who you have become is a

culmination of the versions of you

that have existed under the crushing burden of your mind.

The versions that lived in fear.

The versions that looked for an end.

I want you to remember your dark days

The closed doors

The nightly walks

Because you overcame them.

You healed

I want you to remember all that it took for you to heal

Because it took a lot

And you hold it all inside you

All the strength and fortitude it takes

To overcome the darkest of falls

And emerge in the warmest of springs

You did it all

And I want you to remember