Sometimes life causes pain. Sometimes pain is good.

I have a faint scar on my hand and it’s been there most of my life. I got it when I fell off my bike as a kid. I was riding with no hands and I simply fell, but it was a pretty hard fall though. I blacked out for a second. Shortly thereafter, I decided that I was done riding bikes and playing outside because I was tired of getting hurt. Today, I am still struggling to overcome obesity which became a part of my life as a result of inactivity and poor diet choices.

Today, I looked at that scar and asked myself, what else am I dealing with today because of a decision I made years ago based on the idea that I want to avoid hurting?

It was a legitimate hurt, but hurt happens. I’ve learned that being afraid to hurt can sometimes cause more pain than the isolated incidents.

India.Arie has a song that says
“Child it’s time to break the shell. Life’s gonna hurt, but it’s meant to be felt. You cannot touch the sky from inside yourself. You cannot fly until you break the shell.”

You may be preventing yourself from reaching the next level because you’re anticipating pain. I totally get that. Seriously, who goes and does something knowing it’s going to be painful? Someone who understands that suffering is always temporary and things always get better and there is always something valuable to be gained even through pain.

The beautiful thing is that pain heals and it leaves a perceivable scar.

You can look at a scar and remember the pain that caused it. Or you can look at it and realize that it’s there because the pain has been healed.

Sometimes life causes pain. Sometimes pain is good.

-Tim Sheets