Silencing the Shadows

I have a few old friends I had cut off a long time ago; self-doubt, self-hatred, and self-harm. But last night, they knocked on my door. I asked them to leave, but they paid no heed. They grabbed a beer each and started abusing me like they used to. Self-doubt reminded me of how timid I was at 16, hatred brought back a memory of my childhood bully, and harm pulled up my sleeves to show me my scars. All of them had their share of laughter, while I felt miserable and destroyed. And that's when I realized something, they are within me, they are me. If I could bring them in, I could send them out and that's exactly what I did.