# RUNNING FROM MYSELF **[Intro]** Yeah... I spent so much time trying to escape everything... Never realized I was taking it with me. **[Verse 1]** I've been running from myself, but I'm losing my breath, Trying to outrun every thought that I kept, Every memory buried underneath of my chest, Every version of me that I hated the best. I changed the way that I dress, changed the people I knew, Changed the places I went, changed the things that I do, Changed the music I made, changed the words that I used, But the second I get quiet, I'm confronted with truth. I can leave every city, every person, every room, I can fill up every minute just to give myself no room, I can drown it in the music, I can bury it in work, But distraction ain't a cure when you're carrying the hurt. So I run, run, run like I'm racing my past, But the past got a way of catching up fast, Every shadow that I see got a shape from before, And I'm starting to realize what I'm running toward. **[Pre-Hook]** Maybe I can't escape it, Maybe I gotta face it, Maybe all the pain I'm carrying Is asking me to change it. **[Hook]** I'm running from myself, But I keep showing up, Everywhere I go, I'm still the one I'm running from. I'm running from myself, I'm trying to disappear, But every road I take Just brings me right back here. I'm running, I'm running, But I can't get away... I'm running from myself Every single day. **[Verse 2]** I got good at pretending that the damage was gone, Got good at putting smiles on whenever somebody's watching, Got good at saying "I'm fine" with a straight face, While my mind's in a million different places. I became so accustomed to avoiding the mirror, I was scared if I looked too long I'd finally see clearer, See the fear underneath the anger and the ego, See the kid underneath the man that everybody thinks they know. I've been chasing validation like it'll fill up the cracks, Trying to prove that I'm worth something by becoming someone I'm not, Every compliment feels temporary, every victory fades, So I raise the bar again and then complain that I'm drained. That's a dangerous cycle, I'm aware of the pattern, Turn success into pressure, turn the pressure to anger, Turn the anger into lyrics, turn the lyrics into pages, Turn the pages into songs, then I call that shit healing. But maybe healing ain't just making music from pain, Maybe healing means accepting I don't have to stay the same, Maybe I can forgive the things I did when I was younger, Without pretending those decisions didn't shape who I became. **[Pre-Hook]** Maybe I can't escape it, Maybe I gotta face it, Maybe all the pain I'm carrying Is asking me to change it. **[Hook]** I'm running from myself, But I keep showing up, Everywhere I go, I'm still the one I'm running from. I'm running from myself, I'm trying to disappear, But every road I take Just brings me right back here. I'm running, I'm running, But I can't get away... I'm running from myself Every single day. **[Verse 3]** Okay, let's get technical, dissecting the mental, Every sentimental residual thought in the temple, I been wrestling with remnants of resentment and regret, While attempting to assemble every fragment of myself. I got habits that I hate and I hate that I have 'em, Got reactions to situations that came from what happened, Got defensive when I'm vulnerable, distant when I'm damaged, Then wonder why the people that I love don't understand it. It's a paradox, I'm asking for connection while I'm building up a wall, Want somebody close enough to catch me, but I'm scared enough to fall, Want somebody to accept me, but I don't accept myself, So I sabotage the relationship, then blame somebody else. That's the cycle. That's the sickness. That's the sentence. That's the prison. That's the difference between surviving and admitting that you're living With the consequences of decisions that you made when you were different. I don't wanna be a product of the worst thing I've experienced, Don't wanna let a broken heart become the reason I'm insensitive, Don't wanna let betrayal make me question everybody, Don't wanna let my history become my whole identity. So I'm stopping. No more running from the reflection in the glass. If I hate what I became, then I can build something better. I can't rewrite the past... But I can finally stop repeating it. **[Bridge]** I don't wanna run tonight. I don't wanna hide tonight. If I'm gonna fight something... Let it be the part of me That keeps telling me I can't change. **[Final Hook]** I'm running from myself, But I don't wanna run, I've spent too many years Trying to hide from what I've done. I'm running from myself, But I'm finally standing still, Looking at the scars And accepting that they're real. I'm running, I'm running... But I'm slowing down today. I'm running from myself... But I'm finally walking my own way. **[Outro]** Maybe I was never trying to escape myself. Maybe I was trying to escape Who
