They asked you to apologize 
for who you are, 
so I told you: 
who you are is how you survive, 
and how you survive is how you live. 
and we don’t apologize for survival. 

Don’t apologize for that day 
you couldn’t get out of bed. 
too exhausted to even function, 
they told you to stop being lazy 
and get your life together 
so I told you 
there’s a type of exhaustion 
that no amount of sleep can ever fix 
exhaustion that comes from 
thoughts that suffocate 
and problems you can’t even control, 
so you curled up and stayed in bed
because this is how you’ll survive the day 
and we don’t apologize for survival.

Don’t apologize when you stopped caring 
for that person who was too blind too see it 
who took all that you gave 
and never did the same, 
they told you to stop being 
so heartless 
so I told you, 
the heartless person once cared too much 
and when you care 
you give everything you have 
and there’s only so much you can give, 
until you don’t have anything left
to give to the ones that deserve it better.
So you stopped caring and 
they called you heartless, 
but this is the kind of heartless you become to survive
and we don’t apologize for survival. 

Don’t apologize for the time 
you shut off your phone 
too tired to reply 
to problems that never end 
and to people that betray you
the second you blink
they told you what happened 
to friendships you chose to have 
and promises to always be there
so I told you 
there are people who only 
acknowledge your existence when
you’re needed, 
and people who suffocate you 
with negativity that just grows , 
so you shut off your phone and 
decided to breathe because this is how you’ll survive
and we don’t apologize for survival. 
Don’t apologize for the moment 
you shut down because you’re too sad 
the sad that fills every empty part of you 
and drowns you before you get the chance to swim, 
they told you to get up and get over it 
for there are bigger problems and 
bigger tragedies, 
and some things things just don’t deserve 
that kind of sadness.
So I told you, 
one problem can never be compared to another
you’re allowed to be just as sad 
as you want to be 
for there’s a kind of sad that can never 
be explained in words 
and that’s just okay. 
So you shut down and 
let out the sadness in you to survive 
and we don’t apologize for survival.

Don’t apologize for not being able to work 
just as much as someone else, 
and you hate yourself for not
achieving just as much,
thinking you haven’t given your all
when you have. 
They told you to stop being so weak 
and try harder 
so I told you, 
your best will always be different 
from their best 
and your abilities will never be 
their abilities. 
and when your all isn’t enough for something 
then it probably isn’t meant for you.
So you work at your own pace and 
stop pushing yourself beyond capacity to survive 
and we don’t apologize for survival. 

Don’t apologize for times you decide
to turn everything around and change plans 
or for actions you take that lead you down
all the different roads, 
they told you to start being responsible 
and having set goals and plans
for that is how success is achieved
so I told you, 
we live to see where life will take us 
and we live not to follow 
but to create
and endlessly re create over and over.
So when things don’t go 
according to plan 
or when you start over with something else
that is not called failure 
but success at its own definitions 
and its own pace 
so you plan and build your own success
to live and survive, 
and we don’t apologize for survival.

But you look back 
and replay everything they say 
over and over anyway,
and you think there’s no way 
the mess of who you are 
has the ability to survive like this 
but you don’t even realize 
that is what you’ve been doing 
the entire time, 
you’ve been surviving 
and we don’t apologize for survival