When I begin to doubt myself

And everything I feel

And everything I’ve ever believed to be true

It is because so many before

Told me that so much of what I felt or knew

Wasn’t real

I learned to trust others and give their perceptions the benefit of the doubt

Some truths are relative to the place you’re in

Water boils at different speeds

Based on elevation

And purity

And volume

And the vessel in which it is held

But it will always be true that

it takes 100 calories to raise

the temperature of a gram of pure water

from freezing point to boiling

at 1 atm

And no matter who I am

or what I feel in the moment

there are certitudes I can always trust about myself

If I stare at the sun for too long

I’ll go blind

But if I sit in its warmth and close my eyes

I will see with clarity beyond description

Unshakeable and earnest

My soul does not foresake or mislead me

It lies in wait for me to find it