Everything leaves a mark

I ran across this quote today on pinterest while browsing through quotes to add to the decorations on my bodily temple. I wanted something that would highlight this new moment, this new chapter in my life but feel strongly against getting anything "MS awareness" on my body. I don't feel I need to brand myself with the Scarlet MS letter and would rather have something subtle with meaning to me and to those who know me. Well, I got to thinking about this quote "everything leaves a mark". I never realized how very true this was, but then again, I never really thought about it, until now. Everything we do, every minute, every moment, every action...leave a mark. Sometimes the mark is more indelible than others but the mark has been made. And chances are we are living these moments of our lives never realizing how permanent and lasting some of these marks may be. These marks may be perfect and amazing or horrible and disastrous. The marks may be beautiful or they may be ugly. But, they are marks nonetheless. Isn't that a profound thought? Every second of your life a make is being made. Every action that is being performed is forever altering you or the life of someone else. But, far beyond this lies our own personal power and control over these marks. We have the power of response. We cannot change what is happened but we can absolutely control our reactions. This week has been a challenging week for me. My pain level has been through the roof, I have spent most of my days restless and in tears. But, I have refused to let my children be affected by this. I will not allow this mark to be left on my children. They are too young to understand anything beyond "mommy doesn't feel good" and whiile I am busy focusing on not leaving a mark on my children. My children are leaving a mark on me. They remind me every day what I live for. They remind me what I am fighting for and they are my inspiration to wake up every day and to fight like hell. Everything leaves a mark.