A couple of years ago I walked into a salon and saw something that intrigued and fascinated me. Then it inspired me. When I sat down to wait my turn, I discovered that one of the stylist’s had lost the tops of all of his fingers to the second knuckle. Being a hairstylist myself, I was in awe. I wanted to know more, and I was about to get the whole story because he was my stylist!
I knew that he wouldn’t be working there if he was unable to perform his job well and so I kept my appointment.
As I sat down he immediately drew attention to his fingers and joked about how an alligator had gotten them, in order to make light of the situation. He told me this is what he did with all of the kids who sat in his chair.
He knew that his situation was unusual and wanted to make me comfortable. You could tell that his fingers hurt as he worked but he did a lovely job. From a fantastic shampoo and head massage to blow out, he was professional and did beautiful work.
Though I didn’t get the whole story, I got enough. Over the prior winter, he ended up out in the cold for an extended amount of time. He was not properly dressed and his fingers froze. When he finally reached a warm location, he proceeded to warm himself too quickly and caused extreme damage to the tips of his fingers. Over the next several months, his fingers died and had to be removed.
Now, if I was faced with this situation, I would have given up hope for working in a salon ever again. I wouldn’t have had the strength to get back up and get back to the work that I loved. But here it was happening in front of me. Someone who had seemingly lost the ability to do the things any normal person could do, and then proving everyone else, including himself, wrong.
Proving that not only could he do all of the things a normal person could do, but proving that he could do it well! He was rocking it!
It was clear that this once confident man had been knocked down a few notches. His confidence waned as he worked and spoke. It broke my heart to see such a beautiful soul working so hard to find himself again. He was unsure of himself even though he was a walking miracle in my eyes. He was truly beautiful on the inside and out, just as every human should aspire to be, and he couldn’t see how truly amazing he was. How truly capable he had made himself to be.
How often are we beat down by life’s troubles and keep pushing on? How often are our scars so apparent to us that we are unable to see what we are truly accomplishing? Our struggles might not be visible like this sweet man’s were, but they are just as relevant in our own lives. What has brought you to your knees and made you believe you had nothing left to offer? Did you get back up and keep trying? Or did you let it tear you apart and define you?
Maybe you are in the middle of one such trial as I currently am. You have a choice to make. Are you going to allow this to break you? To rip away any chance at a future you may still have? Or are you going to allow it to make you stronger and turn you into something better? Sometimes it can be difficult to see that you actually have a choice in the matter. I know that I am often quite blind to this concept. I allow myself to only see the mistake and the hurt, to see what is going wrong. I struggle to see what is going right. How do we accept that our “fingers” are gone and keep pushing forward?
He, in a very real way, had to come to the realization that he was still alive, and life had to keep moving forward. Are you willing to let go of what is gone and embrace what is left and make something of it?
God makes more of us when we are willing to make something more of ourselves. He may sit silent as we work through the mess, but he steps up to the plate when we show him we are willing to push through and do the work. He loves us and wants us to succeed. He doesn’t give up on us, he just waits for us to make that decision to move forward.
