The Strength of Weakness

My fellow graduates, peers, and friends.

What will we do when we step off of this stage?
What will we find in this time of seemingly forever uncertainty?
Our questions surround us like inescapable mud
Our path persists down a road none have experienced
And none have begun
And yet, we stand here today,
Ready.

Ready to face a world that can only be determined by our future.
A world that can only be determined by us.

Us:
My life
Your life
Our lives

When our hearts felt nothing but joy in a classroom,
When we Followed in line, Read our books, Took our spelling tests,
People asked us a question:

“What do you want to be when you grow up?”

And we answered every other day, week, and year.

Actor
Doctor
Teacher
Dancer
Veterinarian
Musician
Writer
Lawyer

Our dream, our hope, our path

But is it the right one?

This question lingers in the air, taunting our every move.
How do we know?
How do you know the path you choose is right?
How do I know the path I choose will never hurt, harm, or change my view of life?

I don’t
And that is what scares me

Fear is unpleasant
With the emotion
that is present.
Fear is painful
With the judgment
that is shameful.

Many of us hide this fear

This fear of pity
This fear of weakness
This fear of pure emotion that makes you feel as though you can no longer be in motion towards your own notions.

This fear
is imprisoning our potential.
And so, we must embrace it: the pity, the weakness, the heartache, the regret, the sorrow, the grief, the unspoken insecurities rooted deeply within our very being.

And yes,

Our hands might shake, and our hearts might pound, and our minds might scream for us to stop but,
One thing we must remember,
Is that

"The cave [we] fear to enter, holds the treasure [we] seek."

If we choose to enter,
We must speak of our feelings, faults, and troubles,
and discover confidence within our own endeavors.

That is how we find our treasure.

For Confidence is never found without Fear.
And Strength is never found without Weakness.

This poem is about: 
My community
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