We're all just a little scared inside...

It's a dance, a first dance, she's so nervous.

She is smiling, glowing, hoping that it doesn't show.

She looks so confident, so poised, at ease and happy in her own skin.

She is beautiful.

But I know she is scared on the inside,

Which makes her oh, so brave on the outside.

I know because I am her mother.

And this is my little warrior.
She has the battle scars to prove it.

The baby, my precious one.

How I wish you could see what I see.

A young heart with a soul as big as the sky.

A warrior with a keen sense of right and wrong.

A child with the love of all who surround her.

Dear one, I wish you could know what I now know.

After years of being afraid...

Afraid of failure, afraid of disappointment,

After years of trying to please everyone,

for everything,

Now I know...

We're all just a little scared inside.

Insecure and afraid of failure.

We all dare everyday to try and succeed...

Only now I know succeeding is in the act of trying.

Succeeding is being vulnerable.

Succeeding is being available, intentional, and willing.

Succeeding is standing at the end of the day and getting up the next.

Succeeding is being true to yourself and those you love and those who love you.

Succeeding is not winning the game, it is playing it!

For there can be no game without players,

No game without winners and losers,

No emotion without ups and downs.

So my brave little warrior,

My little southern spitfire,

Embrace your fears, everyone has them.

They demonstrate that you care, you feel and you are alive.

They are evidence that you are uniquely human

And you, the bravest of all souls, allow yourself to be vulnerable.

Yet, in all your vulnerability,
You are present in the moment for yourself and others.

Life after all is a sacrifice. 

Living is the act of expending ourselves as we pass through.

Living well is succeeding.

Living the life of a warrior.

Whether the scars are on the inside or outside,

They are evidence of passing through life with grace,

Surviving to face another day.

Until we are called home.