**I am going to use an analogy that is kinda gruesome so bare with me.... and think!!! Don't forget to think beyond the words you are reading...
Think of the thigh area, now think of a small spot on the thigh area... for the most part it is covered and protected by jeans or what have you, staying in tact, smooth, safe, calm, away from the sight of onlookers. But when it is exposed it is subject to a wide range of possible harms that you normally don't see coming like sunburn (been there many times), windburn (motorcycle riding in shorts... anyone?), extreme cold, stings, bites, scrapes, chaffing... just to name a few.
Soooo.... on to the analogy
On that small area, you get stung by a bee... it stings, probably burns, turns red... but after a few days it is gone and you think nothing of it, a little cream, a tiny bit of TLC and then not another thought and all is right with the world (thigh).
Shortly after that, your hiking and get attacked by a sticker bush while you are wearing jeans... you can feel the stinging under the protective layer and you KNOW there is going to be blood. So you rush away, safe from the harm of the herbal assault and you let down that protection to see a deep scratch. Yep, its bleeding, and swollen, and inflamed, and you need a bandaid. So you clean up the mess, use some salve, cover up the problem with a bandaid, and hope it will get better without becoming worse. It takes a few days longer to heal this time... but still... it heals, it leaves behind a faint scar that will fade with time. And once again all is right with the world. The skin is now permanently damaged, its minor, and barely noticable to most people. But now everytime you see that tiny fractal of a scar you will think of the sticker bush.
That summer you go tubing in the river... the water is still high and after the winter there are unknown dangers under the water but you go anyway... ITS FUN and most of the time nobody gets hurt. So excitedly, you grab your tube, and your friends... and off you go... the air gives off a perfume that is a mix of summer earth and water and trees, the water is cool but the touch of the warm sun feels absolutely sinfull. You are laughing and smiling and feeling wonderfully complete and totally satisfied with life. You see rapids ahead but you are confident you can handle them. With your feet up you glide over the first set without complication, still smiling, still laughing. But then, it hits you out of no where and you go under.
The pain in your leg makes you scream but no one hears it. It takes a split second between the fire in your leg and the fire in your lungs for your brain to register that you need to surface. You break the surface, gasp for air, and body surf the rest of the rapids until you hit the calm end, your leg throbbing with the beat of your heart. You make your way to the shore and then sit down to assess and collect. Your friends scramble to be by your side and then everyone sees it... there is a deep gash on your thigh that is pouring blood, you grab a towel and cover it and hold it tight. Off to the hospital.
In the emergency room the attendant sees the blood through the sand covered towel that you are trying to protect it with. And you are quickly ushered to a bed in the trauma area. The nurses hover, your friends are escourted away, and you are laying there in pain and feeling so very stupid for going tubing... you wish you could just hide away and wake up and it all be a nightmare. But its not, so you lay there in humiliation wondering what comes next The doctor comes in and assesses the injury, no broken bones but there is sand in the wound and what does not come out with irrigation will have to be surgically extracted. The nurse gives you a shot, and you drift and list for a moment before darkness takes over.
You wake up in your hospital room... lift the blanket and see you still have both your feet. Fleeting relief sweeps over you. You lift the gown to see that a large area of your thight is wrapped with bandage and dressing. There is pain, a lot of it. The nurse comes in to explain that the surgeon had to cut away some of the damaged tissue with the hopes that it would heal better. You hope it will heal, you hope the scar wont be horrible.
Months later... your eyes open and you stretch, yawn, and sit up... while sitting on your bed you look at your thigh and see the deep scar. Immediately you think of the accident and the pain. And you are amazed that when you touch it there is no feeling. It is totally numb, almost lifeless. There is no glimmer of hope left that it will continue to heal. The damage has been done and you know it will never be the same again.
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So.... there you have it. My analogy....
The first cut is never the deepest... first there is irritation, and then repairable damage, but once something is injured repeatedly or traumatically... it will never be the same again. We can go about life as if it didn't happen, we can cover it up. But in the end, the damage has been done. One can only hope that it can eventually be over looked.
The worst scars... are emotional
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