I PAID MY DUES

The man that's standing here today is proof I paid my dues.
Nothing worth believing ever came for free.
Every step that brought me here took something out of me.
I paid my dues, one hard road at a time.
Every scar, every uphill climb, I paid my dues.
Through every loss and truth,
The life I'm living now was paid for by my youth.
There were days I lost my direction,
Nights I questioned who I'd be,
Times I stood with empty hands wondering what was left of me.
But every fall became a lesson, every wound became a guide.
The things that almost broke me built the strength I hold inside.