The right words at the right time can inspire us, cause change, and create amazing events in our lives. Have you ever had a moment where words, from a book, article, blog post or email just SPOKE to you?
Sometimes the message that you receive isn’t even the one intended by the author and yet, their written words bring a new awareness, a feeling of gratitude or spark a memory from within you, that pulls their message deeper and connects you.
Of course, every blog post and article won’t accomplish this. Many authors do not even attempt to engage their audience to this degree. However, I recently received a message that did exactly this – to the point that not only did I want to share it with you (see it here) – but that it actually compelled me to write my own story on the same topic.
A Blog Post on Scars…
We all have scars. Scars that are visible reminders and scars that sink deeply into our hearts. Sometimes those scars feel more like badges – they symbolize for us an accomplishment or are reminders of something that was good. Do you have any of those? I do.
You see, in the days before there was a smart device in every hand, newspapers were a prime source of news. People actually used to ask one another, “Did you see that article in the paper on Thursday?” I’m not joking – it happened – and was all too real for me. As a community journalist, I waited and listened to the town talk after every issue, hoping it would be MY story referenced.
Well, those newspapers were created by hand and, once upon a time, each article, photo and advertisement had to be cut and pasted together by a team of harried and hurried journalists and graphic artists. I was one of those team members and so was my friend, Ed Gonzales. Ed and I knew each other outside of work, too, as we went to the same university and even attended the same church.
One day as we rushed about, Ed asked me, as Production Manager, to check his work. I whirled around to look and instantly felt pain. Ed had been using a sharp utility knife as he mortised his project and somehow it had ended up deep in my arm. Suddenly the noisy news room silenced as everyone stared.. and then there was a mad scramble as they sought to control the bleeding and take care of me, as one of their own. The cut went through several layers of tissue and required plenty of stitches so I was whisked away to receive medical care and wasn’t allowed to return to the production floor.
I was left with a very visible 2 inch scar. However when I look at that scar I remember good things. The pain evident on Ed’s face as he realized what happened, the well-meaning co-worker who tried to apply pressure with a cold Diet Coke because there was no ice, and the realization that “my team” was extremely talented. Somehow they managed to produce that issue without me standing by. 😉
As I glance at that scar, I notice another on my left pinkie. I got that while rock climbing when I was about six years old. I wanted to be the first one up a large mountain and climbed up very quickly. I was nearing the very top when I grabbed onto a large boulder… that moved. Suddenly I was rolling down the mountain with an immense rock following me. My Dad dived from his place of safety to where I was, wrapping himself around me and rolling down with me in an effort to protect me the only way he could. When we stopped rolling, a crowd had gathered and I was crying.
My pinkie had been cut and it hurt so bad!
Then I saw my Dad, who was pretty torn up. My dad, who had sacrificed himself to save me.
In the end, we both ended up being okay, but every time I look at my little finger I am reminded of my father’s love for me.
So scars don’t always have to be associated with questionable choices, they can serve as positive reminders, too. How have your scars impacted your life?
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