The summit was (E543)

I ran through days that never seemed to end, with my heart in my throat, no place to bend. The asphalt kept calling, “Run a little more,” while my soul grew quiet behind every door. I chased after happiness somewhere far away, thinking life was a prize I was meant to obtain. Every victory glittered for a moment or two, then slipped like sand from my fingers right through. Everything I chased was slipping from my hand, like grains through my fingers, like time without land. I thought happiness waited somewhere ahead, but it walked right beside me wherever I fled. I carried my dreams like glass on my chest, they shimmered so brightly but never gave rest. The applause echoed hollow inside of my soul, I smiled for the world while I lost my control. I built up a ladder of “must” and “should,” climbed higher and higher, as hard as I could. The summit was close, but the air felt so cold, no shining medal could heal what I sold. Now I stop for a moment and breathe as time goes, letting my heart slowly mend what it knows. I loosen my grip, let the old shadows fade, and find the lost person beneath every grade. Everything I chased was already mine, hidden in silence beneath all the noise and shine. I searched for answers where the whole world screamed, but truth spoke softly, exactly as it seemed. What if my strength is the peace that I carry? What if my worth needs no reason to marry? No trophy could ever give peace like the glow of a heart that finally dares to believe and let go. Now I walk slowly, without any demand, I don’t have to run just to prove where I stand. Happiness asks for no price, no disguise, it lives in my heartbeat, beneath open skies. Everything I needed, everything I know, was always inside me, wherever I go.