S.O.S (See OUR Scars)

If you cut me, I will bleed, just like everybody. If you touch me, I have warm flesh, just like everybody. If you listen to me, I have stories to tell, just like everybody. If you care to see, I have scars to show, just like everybody.

Everyday we walk around so aware of our own emotions. Everyday we walk around so aware of our own pain. We long for people to notice. We long for people to care. We long for people to see our hidden scars. We long for people to hear our stories.

Yet how often do we think about the millions of other people in pain? How often do we see the hidden scars of others? How often do we listen to the stories of those people in our lives?  The thing about humans that distinguish us from other animals is our ability to think for ourselves, to reason, to feel emotional pain.

No matter how bad our circumstances, there is always someone else out there who has it much worse. I recall the numerous times I have tried to "outdo" another person's story with a story of my own. But why can't we, in that moment, put our own pain aside and comfort those in theirs? Why can't we put ourselves aside and humbly love the person where they are at?  Why don't we see the pain? Why don't we see the scars? Why don't we hear the stories?  Why don't we just allow them to talk, to share that pain, without input of our own?

Because in those times of pain, I know I don't remember the words people tell me, I don't remember anything the person says. No. What matters the most to me is that they were there. What matters most was they were listening and I could see they truly cared. They wanted to hear my stories. They wanted to see my scars. They wanted to feel my pain. Why? So that I was not alone in them.