Seventy-Six

"The ripe fruit rots on the vine." I heard a man say this one afternoon and I was thankful, but at the same time I was afraid. I never want to stop growing, to stop seeking, or to stop loving, but these things often times cause pain. I could be lazy, refuse to learn, rest on my laurels, but then I would rot and die, or, I could be open to experience, take the pain as it comes, and then rejoice in the growth and live. I chose to hurt, I chose life.