This blog is appearing about two days later than I wanted it to. I had every intention of getting a post up earlier this week, but then I went and hurt myself. My shoulder popped out  and settled on the outside of the socket. It hurt… a lot.  Not only did it hurt, but I did it doing something silly: I was reaching for a basketball. There was no super cool story, no amazing feat of athleticism. Nope, I just hurt it  reaching for a ball. No one even touched me. 

This isn’t the first time I’ve had a problem with this shoulder. In 2004, I was loading a tent into a 2.5-ton truck when my hand got stuck in the strap. The other five guys who were helping me load the tent kept pushing the tent into the truck because no one knew my hand was stuck. They pushed hard enough that my shoulder came right out of socket. In that moment though, it popped right back in. This past week was the first time it ever settled on the outside of the socket. 

It reminded me of an important lesson: old wounds are always there. They may heal, they may stop hurting, but at some level they will always be a part of who you are.  Your old wounds don’t have to define you, but you need to know that the potential is there, and that if you re-injure an old wound it will probably be worse than it was the first time. I have a friend who calls them “high-risk areas.” These areas are just special places in your life that you need to be mindful of, places that you have to be especially aware of. They are the wounds that you can’t ignore.

Identifying your high-risk areas will prevent future injury; talking about those high-risk areas with your spouse will create understanding that you could never find on your own. Old wounds are a reminder of where we’ve been, so that  we don’t have to go back there. 

What are your high-risk areas?

What wounds do you need to be aware of?

Who are you going to share your wounds with?