Not My Whole Story

I am adopted.
My parents divorced when I was 10 years old.
I have an older brother that I don’t ever see or talk to.
I have weird big toes that don’t bend so I can’t wear high heels.
This is part of my story but not my whole story.

A boy was mean to me.
He hurt me with words every day for a long time.
He made me feel bad about myself to make himself feel good.
I have different boys in my life now who love me right and treat me with respect.
This is part of my story but not my whole story.

I have been sad.
Sad about the way I look, feel, think, am.
I have felt alone in my sadness with no way out.
Then a beautiful someone loved, inspired and encouraged the way out.
This is part of my story but not my whole story.

I have felt trapped.
Trapped by people, place, circumstance, expectation, life.
Trapped because I’m not enough.
Enough!  I’m more than enough.
This is part of my story but not my whole story.

I have wanted to be someone else.
I have wanted to be prettier, cooler, smarter, thinner, taller.
And then I didn’t.
Because if I wasn’t me, who would I be?
This is part of my story but not my whole story.

What have you wanted to look like?
To sound, feel, love, live, be like?
And you weren’t.
But weren’t  holds no power.
This is part of your story but not your whole story.

This moment, the next moment, the next million moments are not your whole story.
Your story is a life long work in progress.
Each moment a new page.
Each day a new chapter.
Each year a new volume.
Write it.

*This poem was inspired a group of powerful girls I mentor at Rebound.