Ode To My Former Self

You left home with so many dreams Of who you wanted to be And you learned the hard way That what you want Is never a guarantee You kept trying and trying and learning and fighting And then you paid for somebody else's crimes against you We all need some help sometimes This is an ode to my former self I can't believe how much you've managed to get through This is an ode to my former self And no matter how bad the treatment you would never be defeated This is an ode to my former self There's just so much that I wish you knew You've got so much ahead of you And one day you'll know that it's true One broken heart and an empty bank account later You came home and did what you could To stave off that aching pang of total abject failure You kept moving starting over again A walking talking cry for help But destination therapy was never gonna work Cuz you can't run away from yourself We all need some help sometimes This is an ode to my former self I can't believe how much you've managed to get through This is an ode to my former self And no matter how bad the treatment you would never be defeated This is an ode to my former self There's just so much that I wish you knew You've got so much ahead of you And one day you'll know that it's true It's hard right now, but let the record show What's waiting on the other side You'll get the chance to run a theatre at a summer camp And you'll finally go back to school You'll work in restaurants and cafes too And you'll learn that teaching preschool is not for you You'll settle down, become a teaching artist And even meet somebody new You'll become so much You never knew you would be I know you're probably blushing now But I think it's time we say it again This is an ode to my former self I can't believe how much you've managed to get through This is an ode to my former self And no matter how bad the treatment you would never be defeated This is an ode to my former self There's just so much that I wish you knew You've got so much ahead of you And one day you'll know that it's true This is an ode to my former self And one day you'll know that it's true This is an ode to my former self This is an ode to my former self And one day you'll know that it's true This is an ode to my former self