She woke up, ate breakfast, the morning routine;
Egg whites, cereal, it was always something lean.
She'd get to school, early, for a good parking spot,
Because there was no way she was walking from the public lot.

She got to class on time for the bell,
Hoping today's be the day she'd grow out of her shell.
But she knew in her mind that day would never come,
Because negative self thoughts always made her succumb

She had a theory, more like a knowing,
And it built up stress, that just kept growing.
She wanted to find an answer, and made it a self-order.
Finally, after research, she found that she had social anxiety disorder.

Relief was what she hoped for, but she still felt the same.
A year ago to now, she thought, how much things have changed.
Her lack of self-confidence was a struggle everyday,
And her fear of being judged by others wouldn't seem to go away.

She was embarrassed to tell anyone at first,
But she opened up to her sister eventually, who'd seen her at her worst.
Her sister immediately understood how she felt,
And was able to relate to some of the struggle that was dealt.

She fit in well with her friend group at school,
But sometimes she held back her words so she wouldn't look like a fool.
She knew she could be herself around them, but with certain others, she struggled.
Deep down, though, she knew that her self-esteem was troubled.

All she wanted was to be consciously normal, but she knew life was unfair.
As time passed by, she felt nothing but feelings of despair.
Self-insecurity was portrayed in her words when she spoke,
And it frustrated her to the point here everything in her just broke.

Then one night, a simple "how are you?" from her dad turned into a heart-to-heart.
Trying to hold them in, her emotions poured out and she didn't know where to start.
After she explained everything, he started to recall that same feeling of self-doubt.
He told her that when he was her age, he went down the same route.

She asked what he did to overcome this rough phase,
But had wondered if her confidence could even be saved.
She then knew she was her father's daughter, struggling with low self-esteem.
To make her feel better, he mentioned this was a common struggle for teens.

Friends were what helped him through this uncomfortable stage,
And he said he didn't outgrow it until he was in college, at a much older age.
He regrets not talking to someone when he first started feeling like this,
Because he thinks back now on all the great opportunities that he missed.

After hearing this, she felt relieved that she found someone who understood,
And she knew her father would do everything he could to help for her own good.
He suggested she see her school counselor soon for a more relatable perspective.
In fact, he made her promise she would because she'd probably be more adaptive.

He couldn't stress enough for her reach out to someone now, and not wait,
Because he learned his lesson, of leaving it to himself to get things straight.
He didn't want to see her make that same mistake he made,
When she could do something now and prevent a regretful delay.

She sat for a moment, trying to process and set everything at ease.
She said, "You always know the right things to say in times like these."
"That's why I'm here," he said. "Anytime, anywhere, for anything, I'll always be here."
After hearing this, she realized how grateful she was to have a dad so sincere.

It was in the spur of the moment that she felt so safe and sound,
Trusting in the fact that he would always be around.
As the conversation wrapped up, he made sure she was alright.
"Thanks dad," she said. "I'm so glad we talked about this tonight."

He replied, "Like I said, I'll always be here to talk, sweetheart."
She hugged him tight and knew this was something he wouldn't impart.
That ended the conversation, and they both went to their beds,
And she fell asleep trying to process everything in her head.

She woke up the next morning, remembering everything they discussed.
She was hesitant to go to her counselor, but she knew that she must.
One day passed turned into two, which eventually turned into a week.
Time was just slipping like sand through her fingers, so to speak.

But she knew that she only had herself to blame,
Because without taking that one step forward, nothing would change.
Just that little step of going to see her counselor could make a difference.
Fear was what held her back, but all it was, was just a friendly conference.

She still has not, to this day, gone to talk to her counselor about this,
And will most likely continue to let this task be dismissed.
But she'll just have to realize it's that one baby step forward,
To prove to herself that she's not a coward.