That’s what I thought when I saw the tiny black speck on the pad of my right thumb. “Just ignore it, and it will work its way out,” said the voice in my head.
That voice was wrong.
That night, I woke with my thumb throbbing. By morning, my thumb had ballooned to twice its size and was very painful. I asked my sweet hubby to take a sterile needle and get it out.
No amount of painful digging worked. I soaked it in hot water. No luck.
Splinter or Not, Time for the ER
By day three, I had given up and gone to Urgent Care. The doctor used a more prominent instrument and x-rayed it. He could see nothing. He put me on a week of antibiotics and said he thought it would eventually work its way out.
The Splinter Lesson
So, here I am, days later and pondering the lessons learned from my “splinter”:
Take care of minor irritations before they become more extensive. I realize that we all get “irritated.” It can be a comment or a gesture that can take a single incident and turn it into something bigger if ignored. Gently dig. Chances are it is just a “splinter.”
Don’t wait to ask for another opinion if it is bothersome. That’s what friends, confidants, and therapists are for.
Do you take “small” things for granted? Honor the “small.” I had no idea that not being able to use my right thumb meant I couldn’t hold a pencil, open a bottle, peel an apple, or brush my hair. Now I know why, in evolutionary terms, thumbs moved a creature up the scale.
How about you? What minor irritation are you ignoring that could become unpleasant? I’m trying to learn the lesson of my “splinter.
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