Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Beauty Marks

I see a lot of social media about scars- literal and metaphorical. Photos, quotes, tweets, posts, you name it. And there are all kinds of scars, ones we inflict on ourselves, ones that others inflict upon us, and ones that happen from accidents. But the ones that are the hardest to heal are on the inside where we can't see them. We know they are there, aching and trying to heal, but nobody but us can feel them.


It's hard to feel like you are scarred permanently and nobody can feel it but you. It's isolating, it's depressing, and it makes us feel damaged. But we are not damaged because of these scars. We are different and unique because of them. We are stronger for surviving them. We are part of a worldwide club of survivors that have been through unspeakable things.


My challenge to you today is to accept those scars, inside and out. Learn to love them like you do your eyes or your hair. Learn to accept them like you do your fingers and toes. They are a part of you and without them your story would be so very different. Maybe it would be less painful, you would feel less broken, but you would still not be the wonderful version of YOU that you are today.


You are kinder because of them, you love harder, you accept others faster, and you are more empathetic to stories of suffering. You don't look down on others with scars, you understand. You don't reject someone that feels broken, you accept them as family. And this? This is beautiful.

Maybe we need to think of a different word for scars, like they do for birthmarks. They often call birthmarks beauty marks and I don't see why we can't start calling our scars the same thing. Because that's exactly what they are- beauty marks left by life on someone strong enough to carry them.

Keep fighting, my friends.

Love,
Stephanie 

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