I Am My Own Worst Enemy

I wage an internal war,

The battlefield is my mind.

My adversary, an unrelenting kin -

The self I cannot leave behind.

This foe, so familiar,

Knows all my weaknesses.

Each flaw, each fault, each failure,

It ruthlessly assesses.

It whispers doubt in my ear,

Sows seeds of fear and dread.

"You'll never succeed, that's clear.

You'll end up bitter and misled."

It taunts me with past mistakes,

Blames me for what I've done.

"Look at the mess that you make!

Why even try, you can't be won."

I try to argue, to fight back,

To prove this foe is in the wrong.

But its relentless counterattack

Only makes me feel weak and small.

"You're not good enough, you see?

You'll always fall short, always fail.

There's no escaping your destiny -

In the end, you will just wail."

I want to silence this cruel voice,

Banish it from my mind.

But it has become my only choice,

The master of my kind.

I'm trapped in this endless cycle,

Battling with my harshest critic.

My own mind, turned so fickle,

Has become my personal tick.

How do I make peace with this foe?

How do I overcome its might?

This battle rages, to and fro,

With no end in sight.

Sometimes I think I'm gaining ground,

That I'm finally breaking free.

But then the voice, with a taunting sound,

Reminds me: "You'll never be."

I'm exhausted from the constant fight,

Weary of the never-ending strife.

I long for a merciful respite,

A chance to reclaim my life.

But this enemy, it won't relent.

It feeds on my every fear.

No matter how much effort I've spent,

It always reappears.

Perhaps the answer lies not in flight,

But in confronting this inner strife.

To stand firm, to face it head-on,

And reclaim my rightful life.

I must learn to quiet that cruel voice,

To silence its hateful cries.

To choose, with conviction, a different choice -

To see myself through loving eyes.

It won't be easy, this battle of the mind.

The war may rage on for years.

But I'm determined to leave this pain behind,

To conquer my deepest fears.

For I am more than this relentless foe,

More than the sum of my flaws.

I have the strength within me to grow,

To break free from these self-imposed laws.

I'm the source of all my own concerns, 'tis true.

But I'm also my greatest ally.

I will fight, I will win, I will see this through -

And emerge, at last, victorious, high.