Promise to My Younger Self

Mister… you look kinda like me,

Just taller, tired eyes, scars I can’t see.

Did we grow up strong? Did our dreams come true?

Did we become somebody… somebody good?

Yeah, little man, come sit with me,

There’s some things in our future you ain’t ready to see.

You’re gonna lose people you thought would stay,

Learn some smiles hide storms every day.

You’ll put on a uniform, lace those boots,

Find another family wearing camouflage suits.

You’ll learn brotherhood ain’t always blood,

Sometimes it’s somebody pulling you out of the mud.

You’ll get knocked down, question your worth,

Feel like everybody got a place on this earth

Except you—but listen, that feeling ain’t true,

I’m standing here today because I fought for you.

Do we still dream big?

Do we still get scared?

When everything hurts…

Is anybody there?

Yeah, we still dream, little me, even bigger now,

We’ve been bent by the weight but we never stayed down.

Got family beside us, got brothers in the fight,

Got a reason to wake up and keep chasing the light.

Every scar you’re afraid of becomes part of our name,

Every loss, every heartbreak puts strength in our frame.

So when the world gets heavy and you don’t understand—

Just keep going, little man…

I promise you become a stronger man.

You’ll learn being strong doesn’t mean you don’t cry,

It means getting back up when you’re asking God why.

You’ll love hard, lose hard, sometimes stand alone,

But you’ll build something real from the pain you’ve known.

There’ll be people in your corner when your tank hits empty,

People saying, “I got you,” when your mind gets heavy.

And one day you’ll realize what all of this means—

We didn’t survive just to bury our dreams.

So… are you proud of me?

More than you’ll ever know.

Current: We’re still standing!

Young: We’re still dreaming!

Current: Through every battle—

Young: We kept believing!

Both:

We are more than every moment that tried breaking us apart,

More than every goodbye that left a hole inside our heart.

From the little boy wondering who he’d ever be,

To the man looking back saying,

“Kid… you made me.”

So don’t rush growing up.

Keep that fire in your eyes.

I’ll carry your dreams from here.

Promise?

Promise.