the necessary hurt

i step forward. i stumble backwards. i get up. i fall to the side. and i get up again... bruised, i brush off the dust from my tired arms, and shake off the mess from the feet that walked (and ran) the race...

that is the necessary hurt.

and at the end of this long, tedious, spontaneous highway is a blinding light that will make me smile. my heart knows. it's been broken many times. and it has also felt heaven and grace amazing. the appropriate words escape me right now, but this is why i keep walking (and running) towards the prize...

and then will be the necessary joy.