The Hidden Lessons In Your Scar
What your scar’s showing you that you’re not seeing.
Scars are really what they are. Reminders.
Scars, however big or small, visible or invisible, remind us of things that used to be. Time can't seem to do anything to make them better, it's somewhat powerless against them, I think. What's significant about them are the things they remind us of. Though we are now well, we remember we used to be sick, we've moved on, but there's a memory that reminds us we used to be together.
Scars could be a constant reminder of the things we wish to forget. An emblem of the wars we lost. A reflection of our strength. It could also reflect how deeply we are capable of loving, like the burn under my left foot. It reminds me of how much my mum loves me. So much so that she'd heed the advice of concerned neighbors and have my foot over a stove as a last-minute remedy for tetanus after I pierced my foot on a nail a day before without telling her.
We could relive moments with one glance at our scars, we could choose to have a good laugh or cry till we run out of tears and drown in self-pity.
We could and can choose our responses.
Scars indeed could reflect how carefree we lived, like the one I have on the brow bone of my left eye. My brother, when we were little, chased me around the living room table; I slipped and cut the skin on my brow bone(children just don't know when to stop).
We could feel and remember the moment we were deserted. Yes, because scars are like events tattooed on our skin. We probably didn't lose our lives in those moments of desertions but we question why they had to happen in the first place. We somehow believe it would have been a better blessing if we didn't get into these circumstances that left us with these scars.
This is valid. I guess perhaps it's a natural inclination to feel that way.
On the flip, can I propose that the attitude to have towards one's scar is gratitude? Despite how it came to be. You never get it wrong with gratitude. Choose to see that scar as a gratitude point. Whether mental or physical. Let it remind you that God is faithful. A scar should be greeted with a smile as often as you see it because you and 'it' know that though the event's long over, you're still here. You had the last laugh because you're still here.
I used to only think of scars as disfigurements, like when I see a fire burn on a person. But that's only one way to see it and the narrowest one at that. If we know anything about life it is that there are several ways to see it.
Rather than being fixated on the things we lost we could choose to interpret our scars as opportunities to choose and act differently. A symbol of our second chances.
