Lesson learned: Don't pull the band-aid off too soon

Today a kid biffed it in my class. He kind of deserved it, to be honest. He was running even though I've told him a hundred times to please use his walking feet. I wanted to say, "See? That's what you get for running in the classroom." But luckily my teacher filter kicked in and I helped him up, showed some sympathy, said something teachery like "Bud, that's why I tell you to walk in the classroom, I want you to be safe," and then got him a band-aid for his rug-burned elbow.

Pause. Analogy moment.

Sometimes, as adults, we get hurt and need a band-aid. We're probably not skinning our knees or getting rug burns on our elbows, but we might be hurting because of loneliness, weaknesses, sin, the choices of others, financial hardship, doubt, unmet expectations, depression, etc. We have two options at this point. We can leave the wound open, but that ultimately just makes the pain and injury worse. Or we can apply some Neosporin (the Atonement) and then cover it with a band-aid, or if needed, several band-aids (ask for help, remove the temptation, pray, make a change, read the scriptures, surround yourself with uplifting friends, stay busy, serve others, etc.).

Back to first grade.

The kid wouldn't leave the band-aid alone. I tried to explain to him that it would feel better if he left the band-aid on but he wanted to see what it looked like so he pulled off half of it and then the band-aid lost its stickiness and then he was trying to get it to stick again and then he said it didn't hurt anymore and then he pulled it off and then he realized that actually it still does sting now that the air was touching it again and then he asked for another band-aid which I only gave him after he pinky promised me that he would not touch it until he got home.

Back to us and the point I'm trying to make.

Just like my six year olds, we often want to pull the band-aid off too soon. We might want to pull it off to prove to ourselves (and/or others) that we aren't actually hurt. Or, maybe the sting is gone and so we assume that it must be all better and we're done with the healing process.

But pulling off the band-aid prematurely can cause major problems. If we take away our support systems, place ourselves back in a tempting situation, rely on our own strength instead of the strength of the Atonement, stop asking for help, dwell too much on the mistake we (or others) made, or sit at home alone, we are most likely going to open up the wound again and halt the healing process.

And then, even worse, some of us (meaning me) will pull off the band-aid, have a good look at it, and then proceed to pour lemon juice on it. We forget that we've already healed a bit and are getting back on track, and we start to think about the guilt or shame or unhappiness we felt when we first got hurt. We relive the injury. We begin to doubt that we will ever fully be healed because, look, it still hurts when I push on it. We dwell on the pain of the past instead of focusing on the healing that will (and already began to) occur.

If we really want to heal and move on, I am learning that we need to stop dwelling on it and reliving it, allow the Atonement to work within us, realize perfection is a process, and just give it time.

Or, in first grade terminology... Leave the band-aid(s) on for a while, don't keep on checking to see what it looks like every two minutes, leave the lemon juice in the fridge, and give yourself time to heal.