Optimism: Minor Injury Overreaction (with Added Commentary)

Luke 6:42 - "... cast out first the beam out of thine own [hand] ..."

I woke up bright and early this morning to head over to a training meeting for us RAs, during which we were prepared for the upcoming week in regards to check-ins and what else was expected of us.

Following the conclusion of the meeting, we were charged with the task of clearing away the last of the Christmas decorations left over from the dance I described a few weeks back. Carting man-sized nutcrackers and wreaths the size of a small child across the housing complex, we the crew started chucking everything more or less back to where it needed to be.

As I struggled with a box full of plastic Christmas tree parts, I slid my hand across a wooden shelf and discovered a most peculiar pain throbbing in my flesh. Upon further inspection, I realized I'd shoved a baby-toothpick-sized splinter in the heel of my palm.

The natural man in me probably would have felt prone to moan and gripe about how I'd been wronged, about how my injury could have been avoided had the conditions in the storage room been better kept. I could have lashed out at my friends, my bosses, those in charge of the storage, or even taken to brooding and refused to help any more while I nursed my injury.

Instead, I said, "Coooooool!" and proceeded to help lift things until I could find a pushpin to carve the wood out of my hand.

That bloody line in between the pin and the gash? That's the splinter. The rest of the grain gets a little lost against the color of my flesh. I wish my camera was better, but hey.

Reacting negatively didn't occur to me until I'd already picked a good portion of the splinter, and even after it had occurred to me, I felt stupid that my brain was capable of thinking such things. Rather than see the painful experience as a burden or a problem, my initial reaction was to express excitement over a new experience and then push on with yet another. It's unfortunate that I don't always win the fight over the natural man, but at least I'm trying.

Hey there! I wrote a commentary about this post on April 14, 2016. Click here to read it!

Had any splinters in your life recently? Be sure to comment below!