The fire: a poem

I felt the fire
rise up on the inside
It was raging.

It screamed NO!

NO! I am not too old
NO! I am not too unrealistic
NO! I am not playing mediocre
NO! to the way you say life ‘should’ be.

See life is what you make it
And each of us have a gift
A diamond inside our hearts
That glows and can make a shift

There are no limitations
Everyone is free
It’s only the boundaries we put on our minds
That stop us from being all we could be.

So I’m saying NO to the doubters
Those ‘what if’s?’ inside my head
That tell me to play by the rules
And focus on being ‘realistic’ instead.

I’m letting my fire burn
And I’m doing what lights me up
Because I’m certainly sure
Someday I’ll be grateful for not giving up.