Scars

A few months ago, I had just finished teaching my cardio kickboxing class and one of my students stayed after to talk with me. We were discussing how she had recently burned her hands while cooking. There was another lady in the room that was working out during our conversation. I had never seen this lady before. She had her ear buds in and was sort of just hanging out in the back of the room. My student was telling me she was feeling very self concious about her injury and I was trying to make her feel better about it, saying it will heal up in time and giving her some tips on scar creams. This conversation comes to my mind right now, because a couple days ago, I went to drink out of my new thermos and, instead, poured the scalding hot water down face (I know.. I'm brilliant), resulting in this lovely vampire-ess burn that I have been rocking the last few days. I'm sure it will go away, but nonetheless, I feel very dumb for pouring hot water on my face. So, back to my story, after my student left the room, the lady that had been working out in the corner came up to me and started telling me about her life. She had just recovered from breast cancer. She went into detail about the toll that chemo had taken on her body. When I was younger, my grandma had breast cancer and went through chemo, but I don't think I really was able to comprehend just how difficult that all was, just how physically draining it was for her. My grandma was always putting on such a strong face, that you wouldn't have known just how debilitating the cancer was. This woman painted the picture very clearly for me. She said how it made her body far more sensitive to everything... when it's cold, she's colder, when it's hot, she's hotter. She could feel the chemo all the way in her bones. Then she showed me her scar, which made every scar on my body look invisible. It ran from the top of her chest, all the way down to the bottom of her ribs. And it didn't bother her at all... not one little bit. After everything she'd been through, she was still a shining light of optimism. She was glowing with confidence. This woman is such an inspiration and a true staple for beauty. Even with a scar running halfway across her torso, she was still beautiful. Because beauty comes from within. Our scars do not define us. They are simple a small part of a larger story.