Pain from Scar Tissue
For more months than I can count, my shoulder ached and my elbow throbbed. I put up with it, figuring the pain was part of old bones and cranky muscles. Doing routine chores – reaching and stretching — wasn’t the breeze it had been.
The doctor said, no, this didn’t sound just like old age arthritis, and he gave me a referral to physical therapy. And guess what? Old muscles can be coaxed to loosen up, and elbows surrounded by inflamed tendons can be if nor restored, relieved when scar tissue is broken up.
Who knew I had scar tissue?
From whence did that come? I created scar tissue by repeatedly using an inflamed muscle, and by not asking for help sooner.
Sigh
One of the most healing things you can do is recognize where in your life you are your own poison. ~Steve Maraboli
A true truth: my hard-headedness, a.k.a. stubborn know-it-all-ness, finds clever hiding places in my heart.
Not asking for help because I think I know the answer is one personal poison.
So, too, is not wanting to hear the answer.
Another poison is being full of good advice I myself don’t always follow.
No man is so foolish but he may sometimes give another good counsel, and no man so wise that he may not easily err if he takes no other counsel than his own.
He that is taught only by himself has a fool for a master. — Ben Jonson
So, the best thing I can recognize – even at my venerable age — is where the antidote is. He is never hiding – even when I put off seeking Him. He’s shown me what is good, even in the desert of discomfort of an old body and aging brain.
Rereading Deuteronomy I see again: God didn’t cut old folks any slack, and He doesn’t sideline seniors either. Remember Moses, Joshua and Caleb?
. . . So, cut away the thick calluses from your heart and stop being so willfully hardheaded . . . (Deuteronomy 10)
And A.S.K. Breaking up scar tissue is God’s specialty!
Want to avoid scar tissue?
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Ouch! And I don’t mean the scar tissue in places other than my heart!
Or my tongue — I was thinking how often I over-use that muscle! 🙁
But I keep in mind your reference to Job 13:5
Speaking of tongues…I used to ask my students, “What is the strongest muscle in the body?’, of course their responses would vary, but not the one I wanted to tell them about! I would tell them, “The strongest muscle is your tongue.” It can cause the greatest harm with unkind words, sarcasm, lies, and name calling – bullying. Thus, if you have nothing to say that is positive, keep quiet. What comes out of your mouth hurts more than you think. Think before you speak. Many of my students were special needs youngsters and they knew the power of the tongue.
Thanks Sue — reading your wise words are an admonishment for seasoned citizens too –some of whom believe we’ve erned the right to “speak our minds.”