Cauliflower ears, fatty knuckles, a scar or two across your face… They’re probably not something a majority of people in your vicinity – your friends and family – like to see. Heck, perhaps even you don’t think too highly of them.
However, you should be proud of these scars. As Nick “Chewy” Albin pointed out in a recent Instagram post, each of these disfigurements represent a battle you’ve had in training and competition:
Some people see the scars that line my forehead, my fat knuckled fingers and my mangled ears and think “oh my gosh, how terrible!” They see them as unsightly.
But each scar holds a story of battles long since had, the fingers represent a death grip that closes like a steel trap and the ears I proudly wear like a badge of honor reserved for only a select few.
They represent his willingness to continue marching forward, even when he was extremely tired:
They’re reminders etched onto my face and body that when warm blood flowed down my face and clouded my vision I continued to swing and march forward.
When my hands and forearms burned from the fire of fatigue I held on just a little longer to win the match. And when anxiety created a pit in my stomach that made my heart pound and told my brain to, “run away!” . . . I didn’t.And while society might see them as hideous, something to cover up or avoid.
Each scar or deformity is a souvenir for following my heart and the unconventional path it’s led me on for over 20 years. And I wouldn’t change any of it.
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