THANK YOU, LITTLE KID—by Anne Pauline Jabrica

Little kid, don’t undermine your life
Can’t you see, you’re full of wonder and light
Come take on a journey, you’ll discover many things you like
Little by little you’re sorting things out
Little do you know, you’re making progress than you thought you haven’t had yet
Day by day, you’re making people proud
that includes you and the people you love
You are in the process of your becoming
Every little step, creates a thread of triumph
From ever feeling doubtful and always wanting to quit
Be proud for keep on keeping on
And when things doesn’t turn out
The way you hope it would be
You might fret but you’d rather
Look on the flipside instead
From the little inconveniences
that broke your momentum
From the little unexpected mishaps
you barely thought you’d run into
From the little voices inside your head
“you’re not good enough”
—it repeatedly says
From the little distractions you see online
Making you feel you’re disappointing
Making you believe you’re left behind

You take these all out
and make it go unnoticed
You thank the little kid instead
To the little kid inside, thank you!
For guiding me back on track
For teaching me a lesson
about heartache and loss
A chance to begin again
and let new people in

To the little kid inside of me
Thank you for choosing to become
more gentle and kind
For letting me see the beauty in taking my own path
For making me appreciate every good there is in my life
For always believing in me especially when I couldn’t myself
For choosing to stay despite the changes
For returning despite all that I’ve put you through
That is why…
Little kid, don’t you undermine your life
Have a little faith, you’ll be alright
Be patient, my child
It will all unravel in time
I’ll be here, always by your side.