I have a scar on my left leg; about 2cm in length and 1cm in width.
A little about the scar: I was bitten by an ant when I was about 4 or 5 years old. I sat on the floor even though I was warned against that.
It developed into a large boil, and on healing, left a large scar(in my eyes then). The scar has been there till now, and will remain. The tissue there is not the same as others around my body – no sweat, no pores, no hairs, just like a cemented ground in the middle of a green field.
But I healed, the rest of me did.
It always reminds me from time to time what is being said of scars, and how we are told to abstain from things we know can scar us later because “you might heal but the scar will always remain”. Then I think “what of those who have already been scarred?” Those, who like me got the scars while ignorant or otherwise – whatever kind of scar it is, emotional or physical.
You are healed but your scars have occupied a great portion of your heart and life. It replays in every view of life you take.
Mine is physical, small and barely anything. Yes I know I shouldn’t think of comparing. I won’t, I promise.
At our phlebotomy unit one day, I met a lady with a very lovely face, just too lovely. She put out her hand for me to draw her blood and my jaws dropped. I don’t get personal with patients, but I took a very long look at the ‘bone chilling’ scar on her arm. So enormous that you would have a hard time finding a vein.
I looked up at her and her smile broadened, making her stunningly beautiful. There was no way I wouldn’t ask how she got the scar. She explained how she was terribly burned at a tender age, and how her parents were advised to discard her, as she was smelling and dead already.
I am sure a puppy will climb in and out of my mouth without my notice as I listened, mouth agape. I know we have all met one or two people like that.
She survived, beautifully. Most of the time, she doesn’t even remember it’s there. Same with me and many others who have scars on their body, no matter the size. But then you remember them when faced with a similar situation.
Isn’t it amazing that scars don’t heal completely? It’s like the teacher that dwells in you. It wasn’t made to be a destroyer either, which sadly is the case of many.
Physical scars are like that since your mentality has no direct influence on them, and as long as you don’t keep peeling off the scabs. It’s very important.
Emotional scars on the other hand, depend on our mental consciousness. We can let our emotional/psychological wounds heal by not brooding over them, thereby peeling the scabs as we heal. It elongates healing time.
And when we heal, never let your scar dictate your life. Don’t even expect it to go away; just see it as a badge of survival, a proof of healing, a proof that you have been through a lot and remained, and a teacher for as long as it takes. Then live on.
