Scars

The lovely reminder that always comes with surgery. Scars. I have 2 scars on my left shoulder; one on the front above my armpit and another in my armpit that extends to the back of my shoulder. They've faded a decent amount in the 11 years since my surgery but they're definitely still there and noticeable. They're only visible in certain tank tops or of course in a swimsuit or strapless shirts or dresses. I used to avoid wearing those types of tops because people would always ask about the scars and I hated getting into the whole complicated story just because I wanted to wear a certain tank top. It was even worse when they would just stare at it too afraid to say anything. It wasn't worth it. So I didn't wear them and when I had to I would try to cover my shoulder with my hair, etc. But after a while it didn't bother me anymore and I stopped caring what scars showed when I wore certain things. People could ask and people could stare but if I wanted to wear a strapless dress, I would. I started to forget about the scars and stopped worrying every time I picked out a shirt in the morning. It didn't matter anymore. I realized I was proud of my scars. Barely anyone I knew had ever had surgery and I was proud that I had scars to show my strength through mine. Because everyone thinks that scars show weakness but it's the exact opposite. By definition, scars are your body healing itself. My scars show how my body has fought to heal. It's fought to repair and make my life just a little better through the adjustment of my shoulder. My scars show my body's strength and since I realized that, I've never been ashamed of them again.