I was afraid.
Afraid of failing.
Afraid of standing too tall.
Afraid of even trying.

I was small.
Shrinking into corners.
Hiding behind walls I built.
Whispering to myself that I wasn’t enough.

I cried.
Not just tears, but rivers.
Tears that traced the lines of my doubts.
Tears that spoke the words I couldn’t say aloud.

I faltered.
Stumbled over choices, over fear, over myself.
Sometimes pausing, wondering if I could ever rise.

I hid.
Behind masks. Behind smiles. Behind excuses.
Also… sometimes behind cookies. Don’t judge.

Then
I spoke.
I whispered it at first.
I said: I will rise.
And as I spoke it louder, stronger,
I could feel it in my bones.
Courage shaped me.
Shaped my spine.
Shaped my heartbeat.

Purpose found me.
It nudged me when I was frozen.
It guided me when I was lost.
Even when my cat—or life itself—tried to sit squarely on my plans,
I rose anyway.

 “I do not wish—I become!”

 “I do not wish—I become!”

Step by step, breath by breath, I grow.
Each setback becomes a lesson.
Each fear becomes fuel.
Each moment of doubt becomes a choice:
Do I remain small, or do I become more?

I am more.
I rise beyond fear.
I move through the weight, the shame, the shadows.
I am stronger than my hesitation.
I am wiser than my doubts.
I am the sum of every “no” I transformed into a “yes.”

And yes… cookies are optional.
But courage is mandatory.

I rise.
I grow.
I become.
I am more.
I always become more.