Self-Confidence

Warm feet touch cold floor 

As I slide my body out of bed.

Muscles ache and limbs stretch 

As I walk myself to the mirror. 

As I stare down my likeness, 

the wrapping process begins. 

It starts at the tips of my feet, 

winding up and up, 

twisting and turning until it creates a net--

full, thick, durable--

that spreads to my torso, my neck, my head,

and finally my mind. 

The one thing I cannot live without.

The same thing I repair every morning without fail. 

It wanes throughout the day 

at the hands that grow claws--

long, curved, and sharp enough to rip holes in my armor,

causing me to retreat and regroup before facing them again.

Sometimes, however, they remain gentle fingers,

simply helping me mend the tears

that appear by the work of others,

or myself.

My self-confidence.

As fragile as it is essential to my being,

it is not a thing that is easy to maintain.

But it is too important to be neglected.

It is the difference between 

choosing the right answer

over the wrong one

because I have faith in my knowledge.

It is the difference between 

leaving an interview with a bounce in my step

instead of hunched shoulders and downcast eyes

because I have faith in myself. 

I have faith in myself. 

And with that faith-- 

I can do anything.