CHOSEN PATH

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Enter

Enter at the darkest point 
Where there is no path 
This is where and when your life begins 

Are you afraid to walk alone? 
To take a step and risk it all? 
Life awaits in the unknown 
What do you stand to gain if you deny 
If you defy that voice inside?

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Chosen Path

Each choice made 
A step towards my fate 
A journey that cannot be undone 
To live with the weight of my mistakes 
And grow stronger as I carry on 
The days of lashing out at everything 
And biting the hand that feeds 
Only wore me down 
Now I'm left to reap what I had sown 

Perhaps I've felt this broken before 
Losing battles and losing the war 
To stand in the fire and feel its burn 
Suffer 'til there's nothing left to learn 

What else can one do? 

Keep breathing 
Keep pushing 
Keep lifting through the pain 

Through years of trial and error 
You learn to see things a little bit clearer 
No matter how the world unravels, 
The greatest war to be won 
Is within yourself 

Remember: 
"This is the path you chose" 
And there's no turning back 

So now I must collect myself 
Pick up the pieces of shattered dreams 
And learn the way of grace: 
To make use of suffering 

Each choice made–a step towards fate 
A journey that can't be undone 

Keep breathing 
Keep pushing 
Keep lifting through the pain 
Keep living 
Keep loving 
In spite of everything

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Conditioned

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I was once young and broken 
By the world and thoughts of injustice 
It took years to strengthen my core 
And maintain balance at last 

Deafened by 
A world at war 
The blood of children 
Oppressed and poor 

Paralyzed 
By shattered faith 
In human beings 
And deities 

I fell to my knees 
And I collapsed internally 

But the world just kept spinning 
It gave me no sympathy 
The universe grants indifference 
To universal suffering 

But now I rise to stabilize... 

All those years at war with myself 
Self-condemned to hell within hell 
A profound lesson was learned: 
We can only progress from where we are

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Incremental Gains

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The heart may break a thousand times 
Before you find the strength to carry on 
And you know I know that pain 
I know it all too well 
Of wanting the world to change in an instant 
But it doesn't... 
(It never does) 

Brace yourself for the hard climb ahead 
You're never going to make it if you can't 
Deal with disappointment 
We stand at the foot of this mountain 
It towers over our heads 
Do what you can while you can 
Understand that change is a process 

The heart may break a thousand times 
And still we may not live to see the world as it should be 
But I have wept all I can weep 
Now it's time to climb 
Step by step 
With iron grip 
And focus

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Rite of Passage

There is no time for self-deprecation 
Not in the midst of so much suffering 
I have emerged from narcissism 
Now my path is clear 
There's no turning back 

To bear the weight 
And feel the cries of the voiceless 
To see no end to the violence 
It's enough to render one hopeless 
The weight is released when hope is lost 

A rite of passage through the darkest of times 
Led me to the light on the other side 

There is no time for self-deprecation 
Not in the midst of so much suffering 
There is a call and I will answer 
Now my path is clear 
There's no turning back 

In an instant all was changed... 

I shed the weight of the carcass of youth 
To meet my destiny 
In this life I must be strong 
For those I love, for those in need 

In an instant I came of age... 

Now my path is clear 
There's no turning back

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Return to the Earth

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In years past I couldn't sleep at night 
Phantoms of the world had seized my mind 
Anxious and searching for meaning by 
Raging against a mundane way of life 

Don't fear 
Your time will come 
Drawing near 
The time to return–return to the Earth 

To stand at the bank of the river of life 
Before we're all carried away 
To witness the truth of natural history 
Absolve all our joy and shame 
All the same 

Don't fear 
You will know peace 
Drawing near 
The time to leave–leave this world of pain 

So much I can't explain–like the madness of man 
Perhaps we're born just to suffer in vain 
But I'll do what I can 
To make my peace and transcend 

Return to the Earth 
Return to the sublime

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