14 years ago, I was part of a team involved in running kid’s summer weeks in Japan. It was my first time in Asia. I was working with people I’d only met shortly before I arrived. It was a tiring, challenging, rewarding, and eye opening time.
One of the more significant moments, was when 5 of us were involved in a car crash, that could have been much much worse than it was. Our compact mini van, was hit by an 18-wheeler HGV/semi-truck.
The van spun round, went briefly up on 2 wheels, came back down, all went still, then a myriad of voices speaking in Japanese, and one speaking in English, ”
Tiff, you okay? Tiff, Tiff…
Within the daze of the moment, I hear the voice of my thoughts, “please say Tiff ‘s okay. Please say Tiff’s okay.”
Tiff, thankfully, was okay, although decorated in glass. Courtesy of the smashed windscreen directly in front of her. Her passenger side had taken much of the impact. An ambulance arrived, 4 went to hospital, 1 stayed behind, Tiff had glass removed from her ear, and we all had a story to tell.
When we got back to the UK, Tiff got checked out again, and turned out there was more glass to be removed from said ear. It was. Story closed, though still worth an occasional retell.
Well, turns out there was actually yet still more glass to come. I couldn’t believe it when Tiff sent the message above recently. I also couldn’t help but make a connect, with how there can be things in our life that we think are dealt with, removed from our lives, story finished… and yet, years later, up, or out it pops.
I have no idea if that tiny piece of glass that popped out of Tiff’s ear the other day caused her any discomfort. Possibly not, but fact remains it should not have been there!
In the same way, maybe there are things lodged somewhere in our lives that should not be there. Irrespective of whether or not we tangibly feel discomfort as a consequence of them.
On the flip side, maybe one could also say, that like that trace of glass, if there is something that needs to be out, it will work it’s way out on its own eventually. I’ll leave you to choose which scenario resonates best with you or your situation.