go ahead and chase your youth

Feb. 11, 2007

I would have given you the world -
or at least as much of it as I could've salvaged.
I moved my personal mountains
and offered to give you my heart and my devotion.
I gave you pieces of myself that I won't ever get back. Can't get back.
You say you like being free? You say you like doing what you want?
Then go ahead. I will genuinely support you.
Chase after that, and see how long it takes
to realize you are unfulfilled.
To realize that when the day is done and the bottle is empty
you won't have me to come home to.
No, I am not the most beautiful, or the most perfect;
not the most interesting or the most wise.
I may not light up a stage again or sing another song in my lifetime.
But I would've given you my everything.
I would have given the world to see you smile
to hear your heart beat for awhile.
No questions asked.
Maybe that's not enough to make you trust me -
I guess I don't understand why it's scary to let me love you.
Life is putting yourself out there. You take a chance.
And it's true. You might get burned.
You might get torn down, and ripped apart
but you can keep running.
Don't be scared to walk the line; I believe in you
and I know you can do it.
So make your decision, and make it wisely -
I honestly just want you to find happiness, whether that is with me
or without me.
But I can't wait around forever
for you to realize that while I am not perfect, I am still priceless.
While I am not the most beautiful, I am the most passionate.
I may not be able to give you the world, but I gave you my songs -
my chords and melodies.
The most intimate thing I could ever give -
words I wrote in my deepest moments.
So go on; chase your youth. Live the (single) life.
Pursue doing what you want to do.
But when you come home at the end of the night
and flip the light switch on,
and no one is home to throw their arms around you
to tell you how much you mean to them...
it won't be because I didn't want to be there.
Because more than anything... that's what I wanted.
Just you.