How to Survive
1 – count.
tell yourself
one. two. three.
four. five. six.
start over.

2 – breathe.
it goes like this:
in, out. in, out.
you can close your eyes,
but just breathe.

3 – cry.
let tears fall.
scream, wail
sob your sorrows.
don’t be alright.

4 – talk.
don’t be silent.
don’t listen to that voice
that says no one cares
they’ll listen.

5 – laugh.
laugh loudly
at anything.
laugh because
it’s raining.

6 – keep moving
life is a river darling
and you stop
and start drowning,
so move.

7 – learn.
learn to dance.
learn to suck at things
and be okay with it.
do things you never expected.

8 – have fun.
watch a movie,
eat ice cream in bed
with only your socks on,
don’t brush your hair that day.

9 – I’m going to tell you something,
it’s different from the rest, now
you need to know though
so here it is
right now:

10 – it’s okay
to not be okay
to regress, because an arrow
only moves forward, once it is pulled back
and you’re an arrow darling.

So count to ten
breathe in. breathe out.
cry.
talk.
laugh loudly.
keep moving.
keep learning.
have fun.
darling, this is how you survive.