If we have ever felt different and that experience still hurts because we spend a lot of time stuck in shame, doubt, and comparison with others, there is a story that has moved me since childhood, and even as an adult, “The ugly duckling” for its courage, it fills me with admiration its unwavering will to move forward is inspiring...
There are a lot of ugly ducklings in the swamp.
In the 90s, I worked in my free time, volunteering with some foundations in my country, in my city, in health centers, and in hospitals, among others. My volunteering was to bring smiles and joy and as an ontologist coach also my professional experience, with attention to children, and elderly people, in the marginal areas of my community.
Personally, my embarrassments at the moment and as much as possible I have let go and overcome them, I don't think I drag them, at least I don't remember, and if it happened it must not have marked me, by not remembering it, as to stay buried under a stone, or stick my head in a hole like an ostrich lol ... Or in the swamp like the ugly duckling.
I'm going into the details of this story Elizabeth.
In those activities of which I speak, no matter how accustomed I am to seeing human nudity, I was once surprised by the modesty and shame of a man in his 60s, apparently very poor and ignorant, from the countryside, who even had dirt on his hands and feet. The doctor who was going to treat him asked me to please receive him (volunteer), because I did not have the paramedic support of a nurse at that time.
Dragging a shame I don't think, at least I don't remember it, and if I pass it must not have marked me, by not remembering it, as to stay buried under a stone, or stick my head in a hole like an ostrich lol.
He had gone to the hospital for the first time to be treated for low back pain. After taking the history, I took him to the examination room, where the doctor on duty was going to examine him and asked him to take off his clothes and put on his white lab coat... I pointed out a hospital screen for that purpose
When I returned with the nurse, who was already getting up, my surprise was that the Gentleman had no underwear and put on the robe with the opening in front. It moved me to see that he didn't know how to hide, and he was shamefully trying to hide his penis with his hands.
Before I left, I just walked over and put my hand on his shoulder, stood on his back, and said, The doctor is coming to examine him already. At that moment of seconds of suspense, I said I'm coming I'm going to get a folder, and I left the room. The nurse tried to help him put on the dressing gown properly, but Mr. Farmer did not allow it.
When the doctor finished doing his evaluation, he told me that he examined him from the front, and then he told him to get dressed because the Gentleman did not want to put on the robe with the opening from behind... Because he was a man, and he did not show his buttocks to other men... haha hahaha 😂😂😂
The gentleman came out of his medical evaluation, and when he looked at me, he had a grateful face, although I'm sure he had no idea that that was not the procedure... Hahaha 😂. Shame at its most naive.
I am one of the people who think that life allows us to build our own story and until its end, we are the protagonist of our circumstances. That speaks of actions. Not all of us live in gratitude; it is the only thing that makes us feel grateful for what we have lived, without fear, resentment, or shame.
In the photo, there are days when the soft light draws the outline of my city and illuminates my land and that, for me, fills me with vitality.
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