Mental Growth by Valerie Parente

How many times
have we heard that saying
“you need to go through pain to grow”?
How many times
did we try to cheat the system
when all we really did was postpone?
Well I always knew I would break
I just kept putting off the date
now I’ve had a year to mature
and the growth is ten times more
but the one thing I need to try
is never to celebrate being right
because the moment I place value on being correct
I’d undermine my newfound self-respect.

I didn’t heal thinking I was right about everything
I healed when I accepted being right didn’t mean a thing.

– Valerie Parente (3-19-2021)