lifeline

It saddens me, it really does. I just want to reach out to you - grab both of your hands and clench them tightly in mine, clench them as tight as I can in hopes of showing you how much I care; what I wouldn't give for you to find yourself, to save you from your lifestyle of stumbling blindly in the dark. Look you in the eyes, those glossy, lost eyes screaming for a second chance, but just can't seem to gaze in the right direction. Eyes that turn to temporary outlets of pleasure, momentary euphoria conveniently replacing the broken reality of your insecurity, your past failures, and the failures you fear tomorrow will bring. You find it easier to shove real life on the back-burner than to confront it, because I know the truth hurts more when you're in constant denial.

A pretty face, a sweet smile, and a graceful heart - what's not to love? But it's all been lost beneath coarse layers of what you think the world expects of you. Don't you see that you no longer have anyone's respect? Where is the girl I once knew? The one who once eagerly told me of her hopes and dreams for the future, the one whose head lifted dignity upon elegant shoulders, the one whose heart bred passion rather than vulnerability? Are you so easily fooled, so easily taken advantage of? Childhood is over; I wish you could see that there's no time left for compromise, for lowering your standards to excuse impulsive mistakes, for indulgence to smother individuality.

A display of public humility; the exhibit that's oblivious to her own disgrace, so much that others feel embarrassed for you because you don't feel embarrassed for yourself. Yet you continue to embrace the flocks of fake attention. Attention that comes and goes, but never sticks around for the right reasons. Sure, they love your flaunting, but they don't love you; they don't see anything beyond your skin and flesh. Whatever happened to security through self-respect?

There's more to life than living it up - when you lose sight of love and it's place in your every day, you're getting nowhere. I hope you find yourself again, because until you do, your head will still spin with the pain of being the disposable one, your heart will be trampled over by games and manipulation, you'll still ask yourself every night why you're alone even though you gave him your all, and you'll still let traitors take charge of a life that is rightfully yours. But I promise to be your lifeline, no matter how far you stray away. When you reach your dead-end, when you run empty from exhaustion, I promise to be the first one to help you start over.

At the end of the day, without direction, you're no more able to love another person than you are able to first love yourself.