I was seventeen years old

I thought I had it all figured out

I was seventeen years old

I didn’t know what life was about

 

I was seventeen years old

Always taking the easy way out

I was seventeen years old

Thinking someday i'm gunna’ make it out.

 

I never listened to my parents,

I never did the right thing,

Til’ one day I woke up

And I began to question everything.

 

I began to blame myself

For the position I was in

All alone in a room,

Walking back and forth,

Not knowing what else to do.

 

I heard every judgement

I felt all the pain

Then, all at once

I felt my entire family’s pain

 

I asked myself, “What have I done with my life?”

I questioned myself, “Do I want to be done?”

I told myself, “You are far from done”

And realized, it had just begun

 

I had been living with fear,

I had been living with failure,

Then I decided it was time

To start thinking of others

 

That’s when life finally made sense

That’s when I could stop playing pretend,

When I stopped hearing people’s thoughts

And started fixing what was within

 

I had always thought about myself

But the moment I felt that pain

I knew in my heart that it was my job

 

To lift that pain off of others.