Edit the Damn Script

More therapy homework, this time on cognitive reframing. I can't change what happened to me, but the story I tell about it is still mine to write. My inner editor read the old draft, a tragedy where I suffer nobly forever, and said it was boring. Time for a rewrite.

Woke up today, the script was shit, same story as before
The protagonist is "broken," "lonely," "can't take anymore"
The dialogue is all just sighs, the plot is just a loop
Of failure and of misery, a tragic, sorry scoop
The lighting's dim, the set is grim, the soundtrack's out of key
And the author? Yeah, the author's just a hack who looks like me
He's got this one damn character, he puts him through the same old hell
And calls it "art," calls it "the truth," the story he must tell

But the editor inside my head, he's tapping with his pen
He's read this chapter fifty times, he's read it once again
He's circled all the adjectives, the "hopeless" and the "sad"
And written in the margin, "This is boring. This is bad."

So you gotta edit the damn script! Find a better verb!
The facts are still the facts, okay, the pain is undisturbed
But the story that you tell yourself? That's ink upon a page!
You can choose to write a tragedy, or turn it into rage!
Or comedy! Or mystery! Or just a quiet grace!
It's your damn story, own the words, put them in their place!
Cognitive Reframing's just a fancy way to say
You're the author and the editor, so fix the mess today!

The "shitty committee" meets, they start their daily whine
About the market failure of my one and flawed design
"You're too much," "Not enough," "You're broken," "You're alone"
The same old tired critiques in that familiar, nagging drone
And yeah, okay, the data points, I see them, stark and clear
The thirty-three percent, the ghosts, the ever-present fear
But "facts" are just the setting, they're the backdrop for the scene
They're not the fucking monologue, if you know what I mean!

'Cause the editor inside my head, he's tapping with his pen
He's heard this monologue before, he's heard it once again
He's crossed out "victim," crossed out "lost," he's crossed out "can't endure"
And written in the margin, "Find a narrative that's pure...ly more interesting."

It's not about pretending that the monster isn't real
It's just about deciding how the story's gonna feel
When you're the one who's telling it, the one who holds the light
Are you the hero, or the fool, who lost another fight?
The ending might be written, yeah, the final page is set
But you can choose the adjectives you haven't chosen yet!

“Red pen out. Let's get to work.”

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