Trauma, cuts, injury, torn, punctured, blunt force, contusion, open, raw ========Wounded.
I've recently watched as friends and family have been struggling with their past and present. Scars from way back and literally scars in the here and now. There are so many traits that scars hold that I believe we sometimes forget to reflect on. Scars are a formation of fibrous tissue that forms following the healing of a wound. Whether that wound is physical or emotional, the scars will form. It's a normal part of the healing process. So while they may not be something that we want to look at or remember, they are truly a sign of beauty, not something to hide. They tell a story of your past. They show the courage it took to get where you are today and the strength inside of you as you navigated each and every day after your wound occurred. They show that you have not quit on yourself! You have had some mountains in the past and regardless of your want to move through or past them, you have. You are sitting on the other side maybe even dumbfounded of how you got there but you are there nonetheless.
You didn't have a choice in the wound itself. Most don't intentionally set out to harm themselves. It's a byproduct of some other event, series of events, life or health circumstances. The point is that is doesn't matter how it happened, what matters is the fact that it happened, that's a fact. How you choose to move forward is on you. Some choose to hide their scars, some choose to pretend as though they don't exist and some wear their scars proudly. The end of that last sentence is what I'm trying to bring to your attention. Don't forget where you have come from. Never be ashamed of your past, it has turned you into the beautiful human being that you are today. You have walked through fire and have come out on the other side. Letting those past event rule your future and keep you frozen in fear is paralyzing. Show your scars with a smile and remind those that inquire about them that "yes that did happen to me, and I'm still here and still beautiful." You are not defined by your past, you are designed by it, scars and all.