Hurt has such a domino effect. The minute someone hurts you, you have a choice to make with the pain they've inflicted. You can choose to let it fly, send it away and never think about it again. Brush ya shouldas off. If you are blessed to be one of those easygoing people that rarely gets their feelings hurt, then I applaud you.
The other option is to keep it in, stuff it away for a day when something else triggers it, and then bring it back up with guns blazing. I think that in our world, this is the average response, mainly due to the dominoes that have paved the way on our journey to the present. Not every hurt gets this response, there's different levels of damage that is caused.
When I was about twelve years old, I thought that dance was my life. I had spent the previous eight years learning tap, ballet and jazz at the local studio, and found so much pleasure in twirling, spinning, and prancing everywhere I went. One particular night, I was in the living room dancing to Jade's "Don't Walk Away" (the way they are dancing in the video can give you an idea of what kind of choice moves I was throwing down) when my older brother walked in and cackled hysterically. He proceeded to tell me that I made "the goofiest" faces while I danced. Ouch. Big brothers can do some damage, just as little sisters can.
Anyway, those words echoed in my head for years! I quit dance lessons that year, and I did not dance in front of another person until I was in my twenties. I know that he didn't intend to harm me that much with those words, and I love him very much, but I carried that little domino around with me for a decade. That was a small crack in the grand scheme of hurt. And I've endured much more and much worse harm caused by the people I love since then.
I had my heart broken.
I was drugged and raped.
I lost family members and friends I held dear. I've had my trust completely betrayed. These are some of my scars.
Now, don't misunderstand me, because I've caused some harm as well, but I truly believe that so much of the pain we cause is caused by the pain we carry. The domino effect just keeps crumbling. The difference is when God grabs us up. When we completely submit to Him in all of our ways, that means we take all of the pile of dominoes we've collected over the years, and we hand them over. The scars will remain, but in time, they fade. God heals the wounds and in their place creates edification. I never realized it before, but in researching I found that domino (in addition to being the game that we are all familiar with) has another meaning too:
dom·i·no [dom-uh-noh]
noun, plural dom·i·noes, dom·i·nos.
- a large, hooded cloak with a mask covering the eyes, worn at masquerades.
- the mask.
- a person wearing such dress.
NOT A COINCIDENCE!!
It's time to let go of every mask we have, beauties.
Proverbs 3:5: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight."
Written by Emilee Lowe
