Scars

It’s taken me a lifetime to realize this, but I’ve learned now that life isn’t about the scars. Sure, we get hurt, burned, stabbed, bruised, broken and damaged. And it’s important to give ourselves time to heal, to bandage the cuts, to rest and take care of ourselves. But it’s also important to remember that life is about more than healing. It’s about more than surviving. We shouldn’t live life by “getting through it.” We should live life to live.

For the last several years, probably longer, I’ve looked in the mirror and seen my scars. I’ve focused my eyes on the parts of me that were damaged, often because I needed to. I needed to acknowledge that I was hurting, in pain. But it’s time to move that focus. I’ve spent a long time healing what was broken. I’ve given myself time to recover, to rest. And though I’ll never be perfect, I’ll never be invincible, it’s important that I also realize that I am capable, I am strong.

Just as I can look at my body and see the scars that mar it’s surface, I can also appreciate all of the skin that isn’t, all of myself that remains untouched. I can also look at the places that once hurt and see that though they once bled, they are now healed. They may still sting at the touch, but they no longer agonize me the way they used to. They will always remind me of what I’ve been through, but today, they can also remind me of how far I’ve come. Just as new skin has grown over my cuts, so too, have I.

We are more than our scars.

I am more.

And it’s time for me to believe that.