pain

A few weeks ago, I woke up with a very sore left hand. I had no idea why it was hurting - I couldn't remember anything I had done that would have left it so sore. No painting. No weird exercises. No peeling apples. Nothing.

I still haven't figured out why it's hurting, but I know that it still hurts. Throughout this time, I've learned what movements I shouldn't do. You know, there are just certain ways that I move it or use it that causes pain to shoot through my body. So, I've sort of avoided using my hand in that way. You can call it fear of pain, I guess. I find myself using my right hand more and leaving my left hand rested. I know that I can't turn pages with my left hand. I can't pick up a cup with it, either. I can't use my left hand to wrap a hair tie in Kenn's hair.

Ok, so really weird parallel here, but, do we do that in life? Is there something that has caused us pain that we avoid doing now? Did we step out of our comfort zone to reach out to someone only to be hurt? Do we avoid doing those things because we were hurt that one time, or even several times and now we've learned what not to do to avoid the pain?

I know (I hope) my hand won't hurt forever. I know that someday, I'll be able to turn pages in a book without pain or do Kenn's hair without being cautious about how I twist my hand. But, I won't know if the pain is still there until I try to use it. Yes, there are some things that we've learned not to repeat. And, we will need time to heal from certain wounds. But, there are some things that we should try again. We have healed in some places in life that allow us to step out again and try one more time.

Don't allow the pain of the past to stop you from stepping out again and trying one more time.