Even though science has never established evidence to support the correlation between pain and growth, there were many nights in my youth that I suffered from awful pain in my legs. Even if science does not acknowledge its existence, both of my parents did. Those nights during which the backs of my legs were tight and sore, I was experiencing growing pains. Growth, apparently, is sometime accompanied by pain. It makes complete sense to me that growing to the incredible height of 5’2” would be brutal. All great feats are achieved with some struggle and suffering, after all.
And so it is in my 20’s. I continue to experience growing pains. Only these pains no longer pull at the muscle tissue of my legs, rather at the muscle tissue of my heart. These are the growing pains of turning a 5’2” girl into an adult. Had I known that I would come to experience aches such as these, I probably would have resigned myself to stay a child forever. I guess that’s why life does not come with a warning label; it would discourage participation.
This last week has forced me to face truths in others and myself. Greed, insecurity, self-centeredness, untrustworthiness, indiscretion, while my companions and I are all recognized as being laudable people, we are not perfect. Although this conclusion would not surprise most, it does pain me. In spite of the worldly, erudite persona I project, I am naïve and foolish. I assume a level of infallibility in all of my friends. We are human and young and so imperfect, and yet, I have always clung to the belief that my friends are mostly without flaws. I have mistakenly always seen the goodness in my peers without seeing any of the attributes that make them more human, their flaws and weaknesses.
My growth this week has been twofold. Firstly, I have had to face the imperfections in my friends. Secondly, I have had to reevaluate myself and how I respond to their humanness. Instead of allowing errors to mar my vision of my friends, I am working on myself so that I can see both flaw and finery concurrently in the same individuals.
Growing hurts. But like stature, great relationships are borne out of struggles and suffering. And like height, maturation is worth the pain.
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Your writing continues to show "growth" in (1) what you write about; (2) how it flows; and (3) in your conclusions -- even when your dealing with "painful" topics, like "growing pains."
ReplyDeleteWell done!
P.S. Childhood, even when it seemed "bad", really seems great from the vantage point of being older. On the other hand, most still would not choose to return to the days of childhood, where every day seemed to last an eternity.