Noticing. Naming. Allowing. Accepting. Acting…

Why is it so hard to resist the temptation to pick scabs? Now that my surgical staples are gone, my incision lines are scabby. And oh, it’s so hard to let them be, heal on their own, and not think I can somehow rush the healing process.

Are scabs a reminder of things we don’t know? Do we want them gone so that things seemingly return to “normal”? To the known?

But what’s “normal”? That to which we’re accustomed? That which feels comfortable because it’s known?

Is that why we resist loving? Because we can’t really love without engaging the unknown and knowing that scars may result from taking chances, being vulnerable, and discovering things about ourselves that are hard to see and being with?

Are our myths about love based on our desire to be scab-free? Free of the unknown or even reminders of it?

As coaches, might we do well to remember that our clients are picking at their scabs for a reason – because the unknown is scary and it takes support, love, empathy and compassion to notice the scabs, name them, allow them to be, accept that they may have a purpose , and act by choosing not to pick at them.