The day before yesterday I was headed to pick my son up from school.
My wife and I decided we would take the kids’ razor scooters the 7 blocks down to my son’s school on a nice sunny day and have fun riding with him on the way back.
I needed to get out of the house since I had been working all day. I took a run up in the woods earlier but besides that, I had kind of isolated myself. Pretty typical Thursday.
The workweek had been hard on me, the anxiety I felt covering my nose was exhausting, plus it was a busy week.
So I went into the bathroom to cover up my nose, and I lost it.
I mean I just completely went from happy (enough) to pissed off and angry at the world.
I walked out and just yelled to my poor wife, asking why this had to happen to my nose! Why did life keep crapping on poor me!
She did something she has never done before and she just walked out of the room and got on the kids’ scooter and left.
I was pissed and hurt and angry at the world.
I felt like a caged animal in the house so I figured I would take a drive to blow off some steam, and then my mom showed up with my daughter who was kind enough to pick her up from ballet class.
I forgot that it was that time of the day.
Then something happened
My daughter just walked up and gave me the biggest kid hug you could ever imagine, and she just stood there and held me for at least one minute.
It humbled me and I could feel my anger, resentment and shame melting into my feet and into the concrete that lined our driveway.
The power of a 6-year-old is immense, children understand some things better than us adults.
My daughter calls the red spot on my nose “cute”. It makes me smile, and I love her for this.
So today I am grateful for little children because their power to help is immense and unbridled and often unexpected.
They are wonderful medicine for overcoming BDD.
When my son and wife got home, I forgave my wife for walking out on me, OK she really had nothing to be forgiven for but, I forgave myself for yelling and being irrational.
I hope today is a better day, I am sitting on the bed with my kids and my wife is off to work. They are begging for breakfast so I guess I have to get off my ass.
To you all, may you have a better day as well.
– Stephen
