Scars, may they all represent a lesson learned. Day 97

Scars
This entry is inspired by a conversation I had yesterday with a dear friend who was having issues dealing with her physical scars. She was self-conscious about them and asked me how I deal with mine, of which I have QUITE a few. So this is what I told her.

We all have scars, some visible, some hidden. Some were accidents, some fate, and some are self-inflicted. But ALL scars represent something positive, every scar represents a struggle in your life that YOU overcame. Whether it was with pure will power,  the help of friends, family, or doctors it was YOU who overcame that struggle. Something gave you the ability to RISE UP and win.

I know the skeptics, trolls, downers and unbelievers are thinking “Really, every scar?” well YES, EVERY SCAR was a struggle overcome. I’m not saying every one was BIG I’m just saying it was a struggle. Whether falling off your bike or falling off a mountain the scar is proof of the same thing: You Got Back UP. It’s Like Thomas Wayne told his son Bruce “We fall, to learn to get back up.” Scars are proof we did so and therefore, hopefully, learned a lesson in the process. (Don’t lean to hard into that turn on your bike when you’re ten, don’t pick a fight with someone just because they’re smaller than you, there’s always a bigger bully, I’m stronger than I thought, things do get better, or Cancer IS NOT a death sentence.)

Now some people may be wondering “What about self-inflicted scars, isn’t that more a sign of weakness?” Yes and no. Let me first say WE ALL have moments of weakness and we all handle them differently. Where one person might just cry, or find a shoulder to lean on, another person might go out and drink in search of that shoulder. None of us are perfect and as I stated earlier we ALL have to learn how to get back up from each situation. Not all situations are the same so they take different approaches to returning to our feet. For example falling on the ground is much different from falling on ice. Most times if you fall on solid ground it’s easy to return to your feet, but when you fall on ice the first few times you need something solid to support you and help you back to your feet. After a while you learn how to stand back up on your own, but in most cases you have to learn how to maintain balance and stand on your own. In the end even self-inflicted scars from things such as cutting or burning are proof of overcoming a struggle. They are proof that things were once bad, SO BAD you thought hurting yourself would make things better. But they are also proof that you made it past that point. That somehow you survived, you overcame the bad times. They are proof that things do get better, that we struggle one day and play the next.

I’ll end this entry with one of my favorite stories. It’s about a king who goes to his jeweler and requests a special ring, he wants this ring to make him Happy when he is sad or under stress but at the same time make him sad when he is happy, or keep him humble. So the jeweler works and comes back to the king with a beautiful ring, and inscribed onto the ring are the words “This too shall pass.” The king is VERY pleased by this because as the jeweler explains. When the king is happy he can look at the ring and it will remind him, that yes things are GOOD right now, but they will not always be good. Be humble and CHERISH the moment because the good times can’t last forever, but at the same time neither can the bad.

So when you look at your scars remember, You got through it, you’re stronger than you think, the pain is only temporary, and things will get better. And when you encounter someone who is self-destructive or just destructive remember, maybe they’re just trying to stand on Ice and maybe you can be their support. May all your scars represent a lesson learned.  ++SMILE++ and LOVE EVERYONE