I'm not sure where I got this...but I remember it when I'm having a tough time...
One day a woman sat on a park bench.
Overcome with sadness she began to cry.
An older woman passed by, and noticing the younger one on the bench decided to sit beside her.
After a long moment the older woman asked the younger woman what was troubling her.
Between her tears the younger woman replied, "I just found out my husband has been having an affair...I'm so angry and hurt - I have no idea what to do!"
"There, there dear." said the older woman, "Everything is going to work out fine."
"How can you possibly say that?" exclamed the younger woman, "Don't you understand that my whole world has been destroyed?"
"Look at me my dear." said the older woman. "Please."
The younger woman looked at the face of the older woman. She saw kind and clear blue eyes that seemed to look right into her core. The older woman's hair was gray with traces of the chestnut brown it had once been. She had deep wrinkles around her eyes and mouth suggesting that she smiled often. It was a caring face that showed a clear expression of concern.
The younger woman was surprised to notice the remains of what must have been a terrible injury, marked by a faint scar running from near the corner of her left eye to the edge of her jaw bone.
"Do you see that scar there dear?" asked the older woman.
The younger woman stifled her tears and nodded.
"Many years ago I was in an awful accident. I fell, and a piece of metal cut my face. When it happened, the cut was deep and terribly painful. The doctors did all they could for me, but the cut remained right there for all the world to see. I thought I would never be able to look in the mirror again for fear of the ugliness that would always stare back at me."
"That must have been difficult for you." the younger woman replied.
"Yes dear, it was." said the older woman.
"But, over time the cut began to heal. As the years passed the scar faded, and simply became part of who I am. It is no longer what I see when I look in the mirror, and no longer the first thing others see when they look at me."
"I see." said the younger woman, "But why are you telling me this?"
"Because," said the older woman, "this scar is much like your husbands affair.
Today you are angry and hurt, and you feel as though your world has come to an end. The affair is a gaping wound that you feel will never heal.
However, over time, the pain your husband has caused you will fade, and this affair will simply become part of who you are. It will no longer be the first thing you think about when you look at him, it will only be part of the history of your marriage."
With that, the older woman took the younger woman's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.
"Take care dear,... and remember, everything is going to work out fine."
