A small wave crashed into me

I didn't falter

I convinced myself I was nothing

To feel nothing

A bigger wave crashed into me

I staggered

I pushed myself back into the ocean

Two waves came my way

I knew what to do

I submerged myself into the unknown

The ocean was dark

Creatures I didn't recognize

But I knew I had to avoid the waves

I wouldn't let the waves take me

Failure is a forsaken natural catastrophe

Its overwhelming power made the strongest

Feel weak

It threatened to take me to a place

A place I knew too well

But had said farewell to long ago

Success was within reach

But I had to go to another place

One I had never revisited

A place called the past

That was always behind me

And never before

The one who stood before in this ocean

With their feet so deeply rooted

Seaweed traveled up their legs

Fish coiled around their toes

Sharks skimmed their skin

Was scared of the waves

And they were stuck where they were

Lost in the present

This new person who now knew the ocean

Learned not to fear the past

Because failure lurked there

They learned not to fear the future

Because success shimmered there