What A Bruised Forearm Taught Me About Life

I was eight years old, sitting on my mother’s lap

My father had just beaten her, and I tried to call the police

He took the receiver out of my hand

And repeatedly hit my forearm with it

The storm passed as always when he left...

Without an apology or resolution

It was a stifling that felt like a held breath

My mother held me close, and neither of us spoke

Silence conveyed the suppression

I looked down at my forearm

The welts swelled into bumps where the receiver landed

I ran my finger along them slowly

In my imagination, I made it a train

Traveling through the mountains

I don’t know why I did that...I was a child

I had no framework for what happened

Somewhere in the movement of my finger

I discovered a moment of serenity

By creating something from the damage

And I’ve been doing it ever since

I’m on a long journey away

From the boy who conceived a landscape…

Of his trauma just to get through the night

I believe most of us have our own version of it

Your story is unique

And I wouldn’t presume to know the details

But it’s the same essential experience

Taking an incident that was devastating

And finding a way for you at the time

To forge it into something you could live with

Somewhere in your life, it’s stressful right now

Maybe it’s your health

A relationship hasn’t gleamed the way you believed it would,

Or a season of pressure that’s lasted longer…

Than you thought you could sustain

It may be a version of yourself that you barely recognize

When you catch your reflection…

In the right light at the wrong moment

And you’re running your finger over the wound

I want you to know your train is real

Whatever you’ve integrated of what hurt you

Resilience, insight, or the quality of presence

Which only comes from…

Enduring something genuinely difficult

It’s the most valuable attribute you possess

And it’s the gift that harmonized your purpose

Into a priceless treasure for others

In ways that weren’t easily formed for contribution

With all the hard things that followed in my life

An instinct emerged

Find meaning in every circumstance

Envision a brighter future

And keep moving

This outlook is yours to acknowledge and embrace

Because it has served you for longer than you realize.