Play with the small hurts

Over the past few weeks we have experienced a few small hurts right here at home. Jenna sprained her ankle - ended up on crutches. Jake fractured his shoulder - arm in a sling. I just started a new workout program, (bootcamp of all things) and just after 3 days, I hurt! We all hurt. Hurt in places we didn't know it was possible to hurt. It has been tough. And through all the hurt, the first words I found myself saying to all of us were ... Yes, I know it hurts, but you know what, you gotta learn to "play with the small hurts".

That is what my dad used to say. For when anything painful happened, my dad would tell us these exact words ... "play with the small hurts". That is what he said ... often. Whenever we complained about exercise, injuries, field hockey or even when life seemed to hand us down an answer that just plain hurt: a position on the team we didn't get; a boyfriend that broke up with us; a grade we felt we didn't deserve; a friend that had turned on us ... whatever the "hurt", dad would just say ... "play with the small hurts". It usually started out about something athletic or sports related but somehow he managed to turn it into a life lesson that stuck with us. I hear these words echo inside my head every time I begin to hurt.

So, when the "big hurts" came and came they did, and sometimes all at once, I heard these words once again rattle around my brain.  And during that time, there were moments when the hurt seemed impossible, unsurmountable, and even unforgiveable and I really just felt like quitting, I'd hear my dads voice reminding me that the only thing I needed to do was to fall back on his words and know that if I continued to play though it, then I would eventually get past it.

"Play with the small hurts Gaby! For when you do, you will be better and stronger and wiser because of them. You will be better at the game, because you played though the hurt, you got past the pain. You will be a better athlete, a better friend, and most importantly a better person because of it".

So when the hurt becomes a little more painful than you would like to bear, remember to play through the hurt, knowing that when you do you will become a better person on the other side.

Thanks Dad, for teaching me to "play with the small hurts".