Scars

It's been a little while since I've written.  Had a lot going on.  Getting enrolled in college (yes, my old ass is going back to college...UMUC for my Bachelor's in CyberSecurity), trying to stay connected with friends, family and loved ones.  I feel like a human yo-yo...getting slung in every imaginable direction.  But I'm okay with that.  Anyway...

Just this past weekend, I attended a mini-reunion for the Woodlawn High Class of '91.  Not a big turnout, but fun nonetheless.  Got to reconnect with a few old friends.  Many conversation were had in the process of catching up on 23 years of life.  One of them really hit home for me.  I was talking with Rubi Uzzi about scars.  I have a few physical scars.  My chin, both shoulders, my left middle finger, my left forearm and my back.  But these are all physical.  People can see them.  I have come to terms with what caused each scar.

• Chin - Fell in middle school and split it open on the floor.  13 stitches (7 outside, 6 inside)
• Left shoulder - Arthroscopic surgery to repair torn cartilage, ligaments and tendons
• Right shoulder - Put my shoulder through a window when I was 16
• Left forearm - Hit my arm with a wood hatchet chopping a tree stump when I was 16
• Left middle finger - Had my finger closed in a piece of hydraulic machinery at a job
• Back (2 scars) - Main scar: Back surgery in 1994; Secondary scar: Bone graft from my hip to repair a crushed vertebrae

Like I said, I have come to terms with each of those scars.  Each injury has it's physical consequences/side effects.  But, there are scars that are much deeper that no one can see.  These are the mental, emotional and spiritual scars.  And I have a lot of them, too.  We all do.  We each have our burdens to bear.  And each burden leaves a scar from the weight.

How we handle these scars shapes us into who we will eventually become as men and women.  Handle them with grace and acceptance?  You may become POTUS one day.  Handle them by running away?  You may look like Grizzly Adams and Charles Manson had a kid.  But, it's never too late, no matter how far you run, to turn around and face the scars.  You can still come through with flying colors.  I finally did.  And if I can do it after 2 strokes, 2 heart attacks and a nervous breakdown?  So can you.

Normally my posts are a little more verbose and prolific.  Not today.  I'm ready for a cigarette.  Until next time, good people.

*SEEYA*