It’s hard to imagine life without experiencing pain and suffering, which often serve as powerful teachers. One of my earliest and most vivid memories of pain dates back to when I was about 2 years old, living with my parents in a village.
On a typical sunny day, some people were busy at our ancestral house, moving sacks of grain from the storage room. I stood near the door, fiddling with a large, clunky metal lock. Though I’m not entirely sure, I believe my mother had warned me to be careful and avoid fooling around while work was in progress or when we had visitors. At that age, I didn’t fully grasp the danger.
I don’t recall the exact moment of the injury, but I remember the pain vividly. I had managed to hurt my right thumb with the heavy door lock. My thumb swelled up and turned bluish, causing me to cry uncontrollably. I eventually fell asleep on my mother’s lap. When I later looked at my thumb, I noticed that my thumbnail had deformed and now grew with longitudinal ridges.
Although the pain is long gone, the experience served as a potent lesson in listening and caution. As we often find, nothing teaches us better than the pain we endure ourselves.