To be self reliant is not only a want but a simble, yet incredibly complicated need. To grow up I must gain the confidence and support that these words give me, I must grow up. To grow up and learn the world isn't really a place where, if I am drowning, there will be someone to rescue me. I must learn to swim while there are still people to help me. Help me if I am grasping for air as my lungs fill with water. Water from an ocean so unfimiliar and terrifying. So I must learn to swim while there are still life preservers in the water. Before I know it, I'll be alone and reaching for people no longer there, calling names I dont even know. I must learn to swim to shore, no matter how hard. Learn to power through, kick and claw to saftey. To safety, to glory, to love, to happiness, to success. All by myself, all without the helping hand of a loved one or a stranger, because people aren't that kind anymore. Having only my shoulders to rest on and only my feet to carry me. I can't let myself, for a second, think that I can forget what it feels like to struggle, and be in desperate need of help. Yet having myself to get me through it. Because the way I am when these feelings are distant is only temporary. I must remember this feeling and keep it alive so that when the time comes, I will saty afloat.