In youth, I yearned for grown-up days, For freedom's call and adult ways. Then 18 came, and I was grown. So I set forth, to make the world my own. I wish I had known those were the golden years, When worries were scarce, and there was nothing to fear. The world was a canvas waiting to be painted, My heart was innocent, pure, and not tainted. But the rush of time brought truth to light, With every dawn and every night. The burdens heavy, the struggles real, Life's complex layers began to peel. Love's sweet embrace, I knew it well, And in its loss, I nearly fell. Pain's sharp sting, a teacher stern, In darkest nights, I'd sit and learn. From depths of sorrow, strength I drew, Each scar a lesson, each day anew. I climbed from valleys, dark and cold, To find that all that glitters is not gold.