If the mountain seems too big today,
then climb a hill instead.
If the morning brings you sadness,
it’s okay to stay in bed.

If the day ahead weighs heavy
and your plans feel like a curse,
there’s no shame in rearranging,
don’t make yourself feel worse.

If a shower stings like needles
and a bath feels like you’ll drown,
if you haven’t washed your hair for days,
don’t throw away your crown.

A day is not a lifetime,
a rest is not defeat;
don’t think of it as failure,
just a quiet, kind retreat.

It’s okay to take a moment
from an anxious, fractured mind;
the world will not stop turning,
while you get realigned.

The mountain will still be there
when you want to try again,
you climb it in your own time,
just love yourself ’til then.

Posted to the PRP Facebook Community by Tammy O (Clear Lake, Iowa) and reprinted without permission from Wicked Woman. The consensus within the Land of Hope was that this poem must have been written by a PRP patient or caregiver.