Life Hurts

Every once in a while I forget this. There are painful things in life, like being kicked figuratively in the guts by a friend, or being betrayed, or being rejected or heck even being kicked literally. These are the hurts we all have to expect if we want to get along in the world and have friends. They leave scars according to the degree of hurt. Nobody gets through life without a few scars.

Then there are the other sort. The sort you don't expect. The sort where you take off your armor, hand someone your sword. Then you wait. You expect them to slice your guts out. Sometimes these are the best moments ever. Sometimes they gut you, the wound is obivous, and it scars over. Yet the most damning is when instead they just ignore you. The kind that don't hurt at first, and may never. Still they scar as deeply, because you're left knowing just how unimportant you are, unworthy of even being noticed. Where being told get lost, or having your innards spread over the battlefield of life would have been easier.

You can't live your life trying not to be kicked, or betrayed, or rejected. It's not a life worth living. With no risk there is no joy, if you don't hand someone the ability to skewer your soft underbelly, you can't find love, or happiness, or trust.

Just the same you can keep from reaching out just because you could get skewered or ignored. Life like that is not really lived. Fear can't win. But in the evening of a day when a new scar is acquired a person could wish that they could let fear win, wish to insulate, and protect, and hide.