Scars

During my palpation/adjustment class this week, my professor saw my back and asked how I got the scar. My mind thought for a second to tell him that I was surfing off the coast of Fiji and was attacked by a great white shark. Why open the cancer can-o-worms?


There was a song that came out a few years ago by Papa Roach with the lyrics,

" And our scars remind us that the past is real,
I tear my heart open just to feel."

I got to thinking, do I really need this 9 inch scar to remind me that the past is real? Sometimes that part of my past consumes me, regardless if I've seen the scars or not. And then there are the scars that we can't see. The emotional scars on our hearts and our minds. We can't see those scars, but they are just as prominent and just as real.

Scars: (also called cicatrices) are areas of fibrous tissue that replace normal skin (or other tissue) after injury. A scar results from the biologic process of wound repair in the skin and other tissues of the body. Thus, scarring is a natural part of the healing process.

So by definition, we have to scar in order to heal. But in doing so, those scars remain a permanent fixture in our lives. We may be healed, but we will always have a constant reminder of our "injury." And sometimes that constant reminder is the hardest part.

Needless to say, I decided to tell my professor the truth; I was attacked by a polar bear while cross country skiing across the North Pole.