Take Me Home

Lately, I've been wondering if it's all I can do. My promise is forever with you.

I know you're probably trying to figure out what that means and where on earth it came from. Well I'm about to expound upon that beginning line - so all I ask is that you open up your mind and tune your heart and soul to not only hear what I am saying, but to feel what you need to feel, whatever it may personally be.
With each passing day, each moment, every single breath I take, I feel more and more the piling up of each trial being sent my way. And so I have been wondering, if it's all I can do to stay true. To stay faithful until my very last breath. But my promise, is forever with God...and with myself. My penance is constant, and my testimony is resolute. Though each day is yet one more day to struggle through, I know that God doesn't expect for me to be at the finish line in the beginning; but He does expect me to keep going no matter how much it burns, no matter how sick I feel at times. He does expect me to be running in the right direction. It will seem like the longest race you could ever imagine, and the temporal camera lens will zoom out making the finish line seem farther and farther away no mater how much you increase your speed. But in reality it will all be over in an instant, and you will have the success and glory to take with you through the eternities. There is, however, another thing to understand - the finish line is only the starting line of a new life where there will be a manifestation of all of your perseverance. In order to make it to the finish line, you can't give up. For any reason. Ever. No stopping to rest, because you will actually end up getting sicker and will not be able to go on. Nobody will stop running to grab you and pull you along with them. You have to push through the pain. You have to fight past the point of fatigue. Every time it hits. This is a race that it doesn't necessarily matter what your finish time is, but what does matter is that you do finish. You can't let yourself be left behind. Work hard, and be sure to fully lift your foot off the ground when you take that next step in the race. When you don't incorporate the things the Coach has told you to do, your feet will drag, your shoes will catch on the ground, and you will trip and most likely skin your hands and knees. But you can still get up and keep going. Band aids and cold electrolyte drinks are waiting for you later. Then when you've given it your all and crossed the finish line, you can relax completely, knowing that your parents that unconditionally love you will be there to gladly take you home in perpetual celebration.
So my point to all of this is that I want to say, with a huge smile on my face and tears of joy "Take me home." I want to make it to that finish line. I want my parents to be waiting for me with open arms, I want them to be proud, I want them to see that I was brave enough to finish the very race they not only sponsored, but went through themselves. They know exactly what it feels like to want so badly to just stop where you are and sit down in the middle of the track watching everybody else pass you by striving for the same goal. The hardest part, I think, is when you do keep going and you see others sitting down and giving up. But you must not follow suit. Keep going. Press forward. BELIEVE. Believe in YOU. You're not alone, even though right now you're on your own. You're not alone. The chief cause of failure and unhappiness is trading what we want most for what we want at the moment. So don't stop, don't sit down to rest, don't trade the everlasting triumph for the momentary relief.