Is the price worth the pain?

Hello, lovelies.

    Have you ever noticed that all the good and fun things in life come at a cost?  And what if that price is too high? Is it worth all the pain that follows?  

    Today, when I got home from work, I decided to do a bit of gardening. Not normally known for my green fingers, I've discovered through lockdown that I love growing my own food. I have potatoes, tomatoes, pumpkins and aubergines all growing happily growing in my garden. But over in one corner, there is a patch of blackberry bushes, that no matter how many times I have tried to cut back and get rid of them, they thwart my plans and grow even bushier. But I knew how to beat them at their own game. I was going to pick the big black juicy berries and turn them into something useful. Crumble, perhaps? And who doesn't love homemade crumble? 

     Thrusting my hand into the green leaves, I planned to pick the largest berries. That'll teach the bush for invading my garden. When, as you can guess, I put my hand right into what can only be described as a medieval torture chamber. There were thorns everywhere. I was impaled to the bush. The more I tried to pull out my hand,  the more the bush held on.  We were playing a game of tug of war, and I was definitely losing. 

       Finally, after much pleading on my part, the sharp thorns let me go, allowing me to nurse my poor shredded hand, and the thought came to me, are the berries worth all the pain in getting them? 

    Maybe we are not supposed to pick the berries. Maybe they are just for the birds to eat, jumping up and down the branches, missing the thorns all together.  But the birds can eat the berries at the top that I can't reach, so surely I should be able to get the ones in the middle? 

     Lot's of things in life are painful. I just adore tattoos. I'd be covered in them but for the fact that they hurt, a lot! But that pain is worth the outcome, and I can express myself through my body art. Exercise, that can be painful too, maybe not for you, but it sure is for me. But I know it's worth it in the end. Don't get me started on diets and healthy eating! If cake is bad for us, why does it taste so good? And what about having babies? Nothing on earth can describe that pain as we push out a small human by just breathing deeply. I have 3 children so that pain was definitely worth it.  And love, that can hurt like nothing else, but that doesn't stop us from jumping straight in the deep end. Are we meant to stay safe in our homes, never venturing out, never taking a chance on something that might hurt us? My mother used to joke when I was a child that she wanted to wrap me up in cotton wool to keep me safe. Was she right? Or was I right to climb those trees and jump into every puddle? 

    I think that in this time of Covid 19  we must all stay safe. I wear my mask in every shop I go into. I hate wearing a mask on the underground, but we all have to do it, so I do.  I practice social distance when talking to people. Covid is scary. But I can't let it, or anything else, stop me. I don't want to let the fear and worry of all those scary things in life hold me back. The fear of pain could prevent me from actually achieving what I was meant to achieve. I was scared to write this blog, for example. 

     But some pain can be good for us. It's how we learn and grow. If we didn't make mistakes, how would we know what the right thing is? In my dating life, I can't just let the fear hold me back from meeting the right person and not just sticking with the right now person. I don't want to be wrapped in cotton wool. I will go back and pick some more berries, but I have learnt a very valuable lesson. Next time I'm wearing gloves.