We all have our own battle wounds on different parts of our bodies – but it’s the story behind them that make them beautiful. It’s what we overcome that leaves an everlasting effect on us. We get banged up, go through something shitty, a scar forms, and from that moment on we will always look at it and remember that feeling we had when we went through something traumatic.

Maybe you have a scar from falling down at the playground when you were 6 years old, or one from the time you and your big brother got in a fight over a toy, or maybe it’s something even deeper; scars from a surgery, self-harm, maybe even a loved one. It’s something that you will never forget no matter how much it may fade. For me, I have a few scars and they will never completely fade no matter how old I get. My scars are a part of who I am and they’ve made me who I am.

I got my first scar when I was 8 days old from a closed-heart surgery. I was rushed to the hospital because I wasn’t taking my bottle and my whole body turned blue. Doctors finally discovered after eight long hours that something was not right. My heart wasn’t pumping blood to my body the way it should. That left a scar under my left shoulder blade about the size of a pencil. I like to call it my fish gill, the reason I am here today. My second scar came three months later: another heart surgery. This time a more intrusive surgery: open-heart. My heart was literally broken. I had a hole in my heart, also known as a Ventricular Septal Defect. As you can imagine, I made it through and came out a survivor, just like you.

Everyone has their own unique stories of how they get scars. They change us and make us believe that no matter what we face, we can be warriors. It’s not easy to accept your flaws, it wasn’t for me. You look at something that you probably think is the ugliest thing ever, yet it isn’t. Take it in. Remind yourself that if you didn’t go through what you did, you wouldn’t be who you are today. Once you learn to accept your scars for what they are, tell everyone about them, show them off, and inspire others by telling your story. It’s a long process, but once you get comfortable with such ugly marks on your body, you will see yourself as something much stronger than what you ever thought before.

“Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.” – Khalil Gibran.