Confidence

It is in you all the time, whether you see it or not
It lingers in your mind though it seems something you forgot
How to believe in yourself, how to know for certain
That you stand proudly behind the closed curtain
But once the rope is pulled and the slack is taught
When the voices hush and the light is hot
Upon your face
When your mouth is dry and your heart begins to race
You close your eyes to summon it
You can hear the whispers in the crowd though you try not to succumb to it
You begin to make out the words
You begin to feel the weight of the hurt
And you put yourself in a box that you can never be bigger than
Closing slowly over time, crushing your will to stand
And once where you were so proud, so confident, so sure
Now you've allowed others to dictate your future
But that voice inside you is always there-sometimes loud, sometimes quiet
It can hide among the faces or it can raise its fist and riot
And you will ask yourself all your life why you sat on the sidelines
Waiting for some inspiration, waiting to see the signs
That tell you how to get it back to the confidence of children
The wild eyed spirit that with time becomes hidden
Buried beneath the opinions
Of the critics of whom you've chosen to listen
But there is no voice louder than the one inside your head
And there is no greater disservice, than praise left unsaid
All your life you will face this battle, and some days you will lose
But you can take back what others have taken from you
In your life, you must always come back to this one simple truth
That having confidence is a choice that you choose