Fresh Pain and Paint

One day several years ago, my husband and I decided our home needed a little “pop”.  From that moment, we have been working on painting different areas of the house.  Each time we finish a room, we sit back and enjoy the rewards of all of our hard work.  As time passes, we walk into a room without a thought to the colors around us.

Then, day before yesterday, I walked through our beautifully painted living room to our pantry.  I reached in to get something, bumped the brand new bottle of Ragu, and got nailed on the top of the foot.  I stood there a moment wondering whether or not I needed to call for help or just suffer for another couple of hours till my husband got home from work.  After a while, the pain stopped, I limped around for a while, and now, I’m back to normal.

I know it seems like a stretch to compare these two concepts.  They are such a contrast to one another.  However weak the link, I have been pondering on this idea of how people just do not understand a feeling they have never had.  Before my husband and I painted our home, I had never painted, thus not understanding that particular feeling of accomplishment.  Before that Ragu bottle fell on my foot, I never understood how people feel like they want to throw up when they hurt themselves severely.  You just do not know till you feel it.

Then the unexpected happens.  Like a sharpened pencil, you write those memories down in your mind, the feelings become dull just like that pencil.  They are still there, but they have lost the intensity because of time.

I do have a point to all of this.  We go through this pain and triumph for a reason.  Maybe for many reasons.  I do believe, however, that part of the reason is to be able to not only help someone out, but to also really and truly comprehend the gravity of the situation.  And though it may not be fresh pain or paint, we can still relate.