# THE DUALITY (1,111 Letters)
**[Verse 1]**
I picked up the bottle thinking it would set me free
Now I'm staring at the mirror, but I don't know what I see
They say it takes control, that it becomes your master
But I'm moving through this journey, going faster and faster
Every hit I take, I tell myself it's just this once
But the truth is that I'm learning what I want and what I've shunned
I can't stop, I won't stop, this is all I know
Every morning that I wake up, it's the same damn show
But maybe that's the lesson that I needed to learn
That the fire only teaches when you're willing to burn
I'm a slave to this feeling, it's got me on my knees
Or maybe I'm the one who holds the only keys
Tell me, am I trapped inside this cage I've built?
Or am I free because I carry all the guilt?
I can't escape, I can't escape, I can't escape this life
Or maybe I just won't because I'm learning from the strife
They told me that the substance is the problem, not the man
So I kept on using, thinking they would understand
That I'm not weak, I'm just broken, I'm just trying to cope
But the rope around my neck—is it bondage or is it rope
That I'm using to pull myself up out of the pit?
Or am I tying it tighter with every single hit?
See, I chase the feeling, that moment of relief
But it never lasts long, and that's my only grief
Wake up, use, sleep, repeat—that's my daily cycle
Everybody saying that I need some kind of revival
But I know something they don't, something in the struggle
That you can't control what you don't know how to juggle
So I keep on going, testing limits every day
Finding out exactly where my boundaries really lay
And yeah, it hurts, and yeah, I'm bleeding from the fight
But I'm learning that the darkness teaches different than the light
Now here's where it gets twisted, here's the part you won't believe
I'm either dying slow or living fast—which one you perceive?
Depends on if you see me as a victim or a student
Of the substance that enslaves or the teacher that's prudent
Enough to show me things about myself I'd never see
Without the pressure, without the test, without the need to be
Stronger than the craving, stronger than the pull
I'm either empty and broken or becoming full
Of understanding that the substance never had control
I gave it power when I said it captured my whole soul
So here I am, standing at the crossroads once again
Do I use because I'm broken or because I can?
There's a difference in the motive, in the why behind the what
Am I opening a wound or am I closing up the cut?
By learning that I'm stronger than I ever thought I'd be
That moderation isn't weakness, it's the ultimate degree
Of mastery—see, I could use forever, I could go
Until my body gives up, but that's not the point, you know?
The addict chases satisfaction but never arrives
Because they're looking for permission from something outside
satisfaction chosen, it's decided, it's a state
Of mind that comes from sovereignty, not from what you chase,from what you chose
