There are certain things, that at the sight of them, bring me immense joy. Like trees and nature's brilliance! Anyone who's been around me long enough, knows that if a tree has climability (yes, I made that word up), then it's a given, I'm climbing it. I also like climbing rocks...and swings... bike riding....anything adventuresome, which brings us to my adventure in Central Park New York.
Soo.....I don't know if you've ever had the opportunity to go to New York and experience central park ...if you haven't, it's definitely a must do experience. It 's a smorgasbord of diversity. You find people doing karate, photo-shoots, roller skating, djs on the 1s and 2s, blowing bubbles, dancing, monks giving out bracelets....I mean the entire gamut. I loved it. Not only do you find all different kinds of activities in one place, they have random huge bolder rocks jutting out of the ground.
Now, when I saw these huge rocks, my heart sang! My gray military combat boots began a quick shuffle then transitioned into a full on jog to get to climb to the top of the rock. I was smiling so hard. Now I neglected to mention that I was with my husband and another couple and that it was slightly raining on and off throughout the day...... ehhh details....I saw the rock and I was gone! Yup, my good friends and hubby were left in the dust!
I had no problem getting to the top of the rock mountain. In fact, I was so elated, I decided that the cherry on top, would be a mid air cheerleader jump on top of this gigantic rock. I knocked it out the park and I have the pictures to show for it.
What I didn't take into account was getting down from this huge rock....in gray military boots (not "military boots" per se, but you know, the stylish kind that LOOK like military boots but lack the gripping traction of military books). Exactly. So I was going down the rock and all was well until I hit a slippery slope and POW my leg smashed into the rock. I brushed it off and kept it moving like it was an annoying pebble on a beach instead of the galactic asteroid that is was. My hubby came rushing to my side to help me down and all I said was, "Dag, that's going to leave a bruise."
Later on, my friend noticed that blood was seeping through my jeans. I did mention this was couples date right. Drats! I went to the bathroom to investigate the damage and it was much worse than I thought. It was confirmed that the rock is not a pebble but a galactic asteroid that causes damage to all skin it crashes into. So my skin was missing..could see a little of the white meat...at least I think that's what it was...couldn't really tell because of the blood. My husband and friends were waiting like jurors awaiting the verdict of a serious court case. Sigh. Guilty. There was damage.
Now, after the verdict...my husband was like, "That's why I was telling you not to do it." I was like, "you did? Didn't hear you!" He continued his chastising and was like, "Now that you got hurt, would you still have climbed the rock?" My response, "ABSOLUTELY! I just would have taken my time and been more cautious." BWHHAHAHA! The shock on his face as that definitely wasn't the answer he was looking for.
So what's the point of this story! In life we have peaks and moments when we get bruised and hurt. We climb to reach goals and the climb to the top is exciting, invigorating even and then there's times where parts of our journey leaves us with scars and hurt. Sometimes the scars leave a residue of fear and questions of whether you should ever do anything of the sort again. But should we let the scars keep us from the experiences that bring us joy? ABSOLUTELY NOT. We should take the lessons learned and apply the feedback that we've gained from our experiences to our lives and keep it moving.
Look, I have a scar on my leg, but I also have a memory and experience that I will never forget. So here's to the cocoa butter and learning from the experience (being more cautious) and not STOPPING all experiences because you've experienced the pain of being wounded in a situation.
To read more inspirational stories like this of how to make the awkward beautiful, purchase my book, The Making of A Beautiful Weirdo: Nuggets to Push Thru Life And Make the Awkward Beautiful.
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