How long does it take to stop the pretending
To stop looking for angles and rules for bending
To stop all the looking for shortcuts and faking
Hoping to get lucky while standing there quaking
To stop looking for hacks and recipes for success
And just be who we are, without self-induced stress
We could flip that invisible switch in our heads
But just thinking of that switch fills our hearts up with dread
It’s there within reach, it just needs a quick touch
But we resist because we’re afraid of how much
People might ridicule or who might be let down
The fear overwhelms us, we feel like we’ll drown
So most of us never reach out for the switch
We never even touch it, we’d rather get rich
Thinking earning more dollars is earning respect
Because that’s what we think other people expect
Until one day we grasp that we’ve waited too late
And we’re left with regret for the choices we’ve made
Never understanding the people we admire
All flipped that switch and it started a fire
The renegades and rebels, the square pegs and nuts
The people not afraid to be called a klutz
It’s a fire that consumes the risk of regret
That we could win our own race and didn’t place the bet
How long does it take to take this first step
To realize that you, too, are someone to accept
In the same way that you accept other people
To realize that all your excuses are feeble
How long does it take to get past all the noise
To experience one of life’s most fundamental joys
