SCARS ...

If anyone has observed my face properly, they might have noticed that I have a scar on my forehead right above my right eye. I have twisted the story of how it happened to anybody who cared to listen but the short version was that I fell on some concrete and I hit my head on the sharp edge of a gutter. It had to be one of the most grueling of experiences for me as I watched my own blood flow freely from my forehead. At 8 years of age, seeing that much blood was only cool for about 0.01 microseconds if that is actually possible. I was conscious through the whole scenario of being rushed to the hospital and taken to the emergency room and having the gash in my forehead sewed back together and it was so cool how the only pain I felt throughout the sewing process was a tiny itch on my forehead. I was back in school the next day going about my life like nothing happened. Only, I had teachers watching my every step just to make sure I didn’t slip and destroy another body part. I was also a hero for a few days amongst my peers because they were all scared that I was not going to make it with the amount of liquid life I lost the day I fell. No lie, when it happened, I was scared as well.

Till this day, every time I remember to notice my handsome scar, it reminds me of a dangerous injury I survived some 20 odd years ago. Things could have been different though. I had the choice of staying home for a few days to rest but my 8 year old self chose to go to school. Probably not for the learning but just because I wanted to hang out with my friends instead of staying cooped up in the house. It might not have meant much then but it only just made significant sense to me this 2013 year that is about to be over in the next few hours.

As a kid, a scar to me was just a physical marking on your body that reminds you of some injury you had in the past, but I realized later in life that scars were not just physical but also emotional. I have also realized that emotional scars take a greater toll on us than the physical and in some cases, physical scars can also double up as emotional scars and make situations even worse. Most people, if not all of us have our various scars in physical form or in the form of what life has put us through. Failures, disappointments, job losses, loss of loved ones, injuries and sicknesses among others are scars that can change the course of one’s life for the worse.

We should not let this happen. We should not allow whatever scar we have take control of our lives and let that scar dictate how we live. It is true that they can be very painful and very hard to bear and even get over but the decision we make after being hurt can decide what we remember our scars for. My decision to go back to school the next day after my injury bought me a few days of being the coolest kid in the school even among the older kids which was gold back in the day but it meant a lot to me and it kept me going no matter how much pain I was feeling physically. How you act after being emotionally scarred will determine what you remember that scar for and even though people’s opinions should not matter to you, it can also give people an idea of how strong or weak you are. And I’m pretty sure none of us want to look weak in the faces of our peers.

I wasn’t injured in 2013 thankfully, but I have quite a number of emotional scars that could have deterred me from being a sane human being, but thankfully, the year is ending, I am still here and so are all of you reading this. I used to tag scars as emotionally damaging but now I see them as mind builders. Scars will damage us but only if we allow them to. As long as we still breathe, we can choose to be weakened from scars or choose to be stronger and always remember the scars for how strong they made us. It’s up to us really.

I choose to be stronger. How about you?

HAVE A GREAT AND SUCCESSFUL 2014!!!

BIGTYME OUT!!

Bad Luck Day?

Considering how America commercializes every thing possible from Sports to Holidays, its not surprising that Friday the 13th is a day that is not spared as well. For you Horror Movie Enthusiasts, its a bonus day for you to catch your horror movies, new or old, at home or at the movies. Yup, Its the day known popularly as “Bad Luck Day” in most parts of the western world for reasons best known to whoever made that decision. Apparently, 13 was considered an unlucky number and Friday was considered an unlucky day which is very weird because it seems like The Creator upstairs gets more appreciation on this day than any other day of the week bar Sunday. It might just be superstition but I wonder to myself if it was coincidence that I had a horrible run of events starting early on Friday the 13th of December 2013. Bear with my long story because as usual, there is a very simple turning point which made everything better and ended up causing me to share this anyway, considering how I have not posted anything in a while. It also doubles up as my first short story.. Even better, Its not fiction!!!

I woke up from a bad dream first of all on Friday morning. I wont detail that, but it was the kind of dream that got me thinking I need to do better praying and going to church. I will however let you know it involved me shoving my laptop of the bed. It got scarred a bit but it survived. As cold as the weather was, I was burning hot when I woke up from the dream. I already had a combination of ailments bugging my throat and my nose from earlier in the week, so as early as 6:30 am, I couldn’t handle it anymore so I stepped out of the house to get me some medical defense and then head back home. That was the plan. I did not get back home till about 10:00 am. And this is why…

I needed an over the counter drug that was sold behind the counter because of some chemical it had in it so I actually had to see the Pharmacist. Problem was, i couldn’t find a pharmacy that was open and me being the don’t give up person I am, I kept searching for pharmacies that were open. I couldn’t find any after about 90 minutes of driving, dealing with traffic, parking, walking out of the car, asking when pharmacies opened and stuff. I finally ended up at the same pharmacy where I started off. I had thought to myself that since the answer I got from most of the other stores I went to was that the pharmacies open at 8, I might as well go back to Kroger and get my medicine and be on my way… Kroger Pharmacy didn’t open till 9. I did not find out on my first visit what time they opened.

Its past 8 and I’m disappointed at this point, so I decide to go home. I’m pulling out of the lot when this random guy yells at me. I didn’t pay him any mind as I was already pissed but he kept yelling and when I eventually decide to listen, he was just trying to tell me I had a flat tire.. Great News! I didn’t get my drugs and I now had a flat tire to fix in the beautiful 20 degree morning weather. At this point, I just sat in my car, a very frustrated human that didn’t want to change a tire and that is when it occurred to me that it was Friday the 13th and I immediately begin laughing. I’ve heard stories from even close friends having bad luck day dilemmas but I never for once thought I would be a victim and it was just funny to me. My head is also hurting at this point and I decide to do a last minute sweep of my car hoping to find a bottle of painkillers that I might have conveniently left in my car. This is where my luck changed and yes, it was for the better.

Of course I did not find any painkillers miraculously wedged under the seats in the car but I did find my gloves which funny enough I had conveniently kept in the “glove box”. They were the same gloves I had been looking for in the past 48 hrs. Figuring, I had an edge over the weather now, I decided to change my tire. Its 8:45 am, I’m still pissed off, my car is raised and I’m taking bolts of the tire and this lady probably going into the store walks up to me and sympathizes with my situation, citing that its horrible that i had to change my tire in such weather. I in turn thank her for her kind words and say to her, “I’m lucky I have gloves”

That phrase in addition to what the lady said next probably changed my whole day. She smiled and said “well. I hope the rest of your day goes way better” and she was on her way. I’m not even going to lie! It warmed my heart and at this point, I’m now feeling ungrateful that I would even think I was unlucky in the first place when there are some out there who would kill to be in my position, however bizarre that may sound. I mustered up whatever energy I had left and finished replacing my tire and got in the car to head home. I then remembered that it was now after 9 and I could get my medicine. I was already driving out before I realized it, so I had to park somewhere else as my spot had been taken. I had to show my ID for the medicine and I kid you not! I did not have my wallet on me, I’m about to freak out again but I remember how lucky I am and decide to go check the car. It was in the car. It had fallen out of my pocket somehow while I was searching for my painkillers.

I pay for my drugs and I head to my car with a smile on my face as I now had my medicine! I cant find my keys!! This, by now is round 4 or 5 of fretting but once again, I calm down and luckily, (If I may use that word) my keys were sitting on the inside of the car on the driver’s seat in a locked car. In Kevin Hart’s words, “I can not make this up!!!” I had dropped them on the seat while looking for my wallet and I never picked them up when I locked the car and went back in the store. No biggie tho. After acquiring a few tools from some friendly Kroger employees, I was able to prop my door open with no damage and be on my way home. Irony of it all, I just dropped the medicine on the counter and went straight back to sleep when I finally got to the house.

It was really an interesting morning and I’m glad I was able to learn and be reminded from my experience that myself and most of us who will end up reading this are luckier than we can imagine and no made up day can ever change that. Also, the things you do or say to someone can have any kind of impact on the person. No matter how resistant a person is, the words we utter can change the kind of day a person is having. So as creepy as it may sound, a smile every now and then would not hurt and a simple phrase such as “Have a nice day” or like this nice lady said to me, “I hope the rest of your day goes way better”, can alter the course of someone’s day for the better.

This is a BigTyme Short Story…