The Value of Life

Life is full of tests and trials and has ways of humbling you to your very core. However, amidst the grief and agony there is a choice: 
A.) It can break you and, in all honesty, is probably the easier route. Those who love you will know and understand that you fought a good fight.
B.) It can, and will, make you stronger in time. The catch to the second option is that there is no time limit. There is no date to which one can look forward. Only you will recognize that the chains that bind you have broken and set you free. 
I am grateful for the heartache, the humility, and even the darkness because I know they will eventually bring incomparable joy, tremendous tolerance, and a light that will fill my soul with the warmth of the sun. 

"I (have) to learn what I've got, what I'm not, and who I am ... I won't give up."- Jason Mraz 

Digging in and out of books

There is a freedom in reading 

That invites your soul to feel rhythm, 

To question emotion, 

To rub the mundane from your eyes.

While you brave the calm storm, 

quiet symphonies of sound whisper in the wind 

Until you grasp imagery and hold details

In your hungry, lonely arms. 

The setting turns into your playground 

After characters become friends. 

Warmth fills your heart

As the bright sun waxes strong.

Crisp rain gently falls 

Once you let go of dark fear 

And breathless despair. 

As looming, limiting anguish rises from your chest,

You just might feel 

A cold, dancing snowflake 

Grace your outstretched tongue. 
- T.B. Williams

The Power of Words

I love words. I love discovering the etymology and history that lies within the letters that make a word so profound. As it is with anything that holds power, the way words are used can dictate the way they are interpreted. Words have caused wars and brought hope. Words have whispered sweet nothings into the ears of soul mates and whispered lies to enemies. They can be used for both good and evil and lie inside each and every one of us. I believe the best way to control language is much like the parable of the wolves. Two wolves living within in us are at war: one wolf is kind, courageous, loving, and peaceful; the other is full of hate, revenge, anger and spite. The only way to control the outcome is to feed the right wolf. The wolves and words within us are capable of both inflicting injury and remedying it; with courage, we can educate our minds and continue to use these inexhaustible sources of magic for good.

A Believer Refined

Lost in trenches of doubt

And the darkness of night

In cold caverns that howl

With thick shadows that bite

Lies a glimmer of hope

If you seek ye shall find

It will lead you back home

A believer refined.
-T.B. Williams

A Comedy of Errors