The Bar

Another victory, another conquest, they’re calling you the best of the best,

Feeling untouchable, invincible, no one’s knocking you off of your pedestal,

Pushed yourself day by day, paid your dues and kept your peers at bay,

Surveying your kingdom, sitting pretty atop the exceptional and gifted,

Better bask in your glory now, it’s all temporary,

Nothing lasts forever, you acquire losses, eventually,

The standouts aren’t immune, sooner or later your hallmarks to greatness wither away and fade,

No ifs or buts about it, Father Time gives but also takes,

Then there’s your competition, you fended off the majority, now here comes the next wave, passing the bar you’d set previously,

You push and you push, trying to stay ahead like before,

For a while you hold your own, before they shift into another gear, leaving you in the dust, just as you’d feared,

You’d already reached your ceiling, it’s built solid, for you unpassable,

They’re leaping over it, no shame in it, there’s always someone better,

Doesn’t diminish from your legacy, without it there are no standards to be passed,

You set the bar, earned their respect, sit back and relax,

But here’s another fact, the torch must be passed,

No one holds onto it forever, only ‘til another comes along,

Look to the mirror, that’s your competition, forget about the others,

In the end it’s you against you, their admiration are merely byproducts,

Go as far as you can, do your best for yourself,

No such thing as better than the rest, who wants that type of pressure on themselves?

Lift ain’t no race, certainly not one based on comparisons,

Leave that to the birds while you build your own kingdom.