A poem: I can bend and be strong

From a very young age we are taught to be nice to others, to please others, to be polite and humble. We are taught to take care of others, care for others, help others and listen to others. Seldom are we taught to listen to, care for and be nice to ourselves. Many of us go through life people-pleasing non-stop, without ever asking ourselves if we are doing it out of will, love, fear or even guilt.

We all want to be nice, we all want to help others, to bend for others – and sometimes we forget that we have to be responsible of our own well-being, create our own boundaries and listen to ourselves. When we do bend without listening to ourselves we might fall in a trap of guilt and fear and start bending over, and over, and over, until we snap our back out.

I wrote this poem as a reminder to myself, and as a reminder to others to really be aware of why we bend for others and how bendy we get, because a flexible back without strength is a back that can’t stand up straight and that is very prone to injuries – a strong back is essential to basically give power to your entire body, from head to toe. And every now and then we just have to remember that strength and flexibility goes hand in hand, neither one is good without the other.

I can bend myself,
and that can help someone else.

but the balance of
bending
and staying true
to myself
has to be found

bending to please
others
does not serve me

I will bend
in love
and hope

but I will not
fool myself
and bend only
to avoid
fear

I will not bend
today
out of fear for
tomorrow

I will bend
if it feel
true
and truly
good

and sometimes
it feels good in the
moment

but in
retrospective
it was too bendy

I will tap in
fully
before bending
to not hurt
myself

~

Image: @reginepandora 

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