Learning How to Stay

[Verse 1]
I kept a tally on the kitchen wall
Small gold stars for getting through it all
Then one kind morning, sunlight on the sink
I let the kettle sing before I think

[Pre-Chorus]
You don't have to earn a softer day
You can set the heavy list away

[Chorus]
I am learning how to stay
In this body, in this day
Every breath becomes a place
I can meet myself with grace
I am more than what I prove
I can heal and still move

[Verse 2]
I called my sister from the grocery line
Said, "I miss the way I used to feel like mine"
She stayed with me while carts rolled slowly by
No grand solution, just her asking why

[Pre-Chorus]
Little by little, I can make room
A window opens in a crowded room

[Chorus]
I am learning how to stay
In this body, in this day
Every breath becomes a place
I can meet myself with grace
I am more than what I prove
I can heal and still move

[Bridge]
The old ache speaks; I let it have a chair
I hear its story, but I don't live there
I name the thing I need, and ask it plain
A hand, some water, time to start again

[Final Chorus]
I am learning how to stay
In this body, in this day
Every breath becomes a place
I can meet myself with grace
I am more than what I prove
I can heal and still move
I am here, and I am whole
Not a finish line—a growing soul

[Outro]
One kind morning, one small start
I make a little room inside my heart