May 15, 2025
When you run and can barely breathe,
And the end is nowhere in sight.
There’s the burning pain in your lungs,
And the deadened weight of your legs,
All you want is to take a break.
Yes, you can give up if you want,
No one else will care if you do.
This is your race and no one else’s.
The possibility of stopping?
It makes you falter in your steps.
And the lure of rest, of respite,
Frankly threatens to just break you.
You don’t give up, you keep running,
For there is more race to be run.
The one person who matters most,
The one you can’t let down is you.
So you grit, and you grind,
One foot in front of the other.
Ignore pain, reject the screaming,
Your lungs, your legs, your very voice.
In the silence of your heartbeat,
And in the courage of your heart,
And in the very depths of your soul,
Listen – it whispers: “persevere.”