Stand Tall
On the high seas and the calm ones — and the small, durable lesson that holds across both.
A piece that doesn’t try to flatten the variety of life. Just sits with it, and ends with the only instruction that fits all of it.
Whether they’re stormy winds
Or calming seas
There are lessons in both
And what they do to me
I look at ups and downs
Highs and lows
They are natural to this journey
Endless ebbs and flows
And there are those who know
Those who don’t
There are those who seek wisdom
And those who simply won’t
But on this note, I wrote down
The most important lesson of them all
Give yourself the time you need
But don’t stay down; stand tall
Give yourself the time you need. That’s the permission part. But don’t stay down; stand tall. That’s the rest. Both halves matter; missing either one is how people get stuck.
— JTC