A thick skin is not a skin devoid of feeling or one that is dead to pain. It is one that has become so used to pain that it can accept the bitter words and toxins shot at it. The skin receives poisonous words and permits the words to flow through, gets used to it, till it become its strength.
Have you ever wondered how tough horse hooves are for metal shoes to be attached to them by nailing? By this, they are able to withstand tough terrains, and each terrain makes them tougher. Such is the way with a person who has become used to tirades, invectives and anecdotes hurled at him/her.
Those words hurled at you do not define you. They represent the workings of the minds of those who use them. They are the relics of often endangered thoughts. Words are thoughts expressed and when words of a certain quality become the norm for some, it tells a lot about what they are feeding on.
I heard the story of a warthog that ate up a whole poisonous snake beginning from its tail till it crushed its head and swallowed every bit of it. During the process of the pig swallowing the snake, the snake was not without a fight. As the warthog got bitten repeatedly, it merely shook off each bite until the snake ended up a whole meal in its belly.
Weeks later, he said, “the warthog was shown hale and hearty”. Now, that warthog had developed a thick skin. The only way a reptile can make a meal of it is if the reptile is big enough to snuff life out of it by wrapping it up. How long it took the pig to develop that potent and invincible resilience against the poison of a reptile, is something I cannot tell, but it sure did; and it lives with it.
Have you heard about the toughness of the skin of the crocodile? Though super tough, it’s equally sensitive, especially having the strongest touch sensors in the animal kingdom. What about the sperm whale, whose skin is said to be about 14 inches thick? That is more than 8 foot of skin. The armadillo skin is made up of a bunch of tough plates, which protect the soft plate underneath.
What do these mean to you? Nature is always there to teach you how to go through the rigours of life. There is always something in creation to learn from. We can, through evolution of personal development over time build and develop resilience as we go through life’s situations, set out there only to toughen, not to destroy us.
When men speak offensive words to you, when men shoot bile at you, when men inject you with caustic words and sometimes extend it to denying you your due or choose to deprive you of or shield you away from opportunities, they are only teaching and helping you grow thick skin. They are taking you through the pathway of creating your own opportunities; through creating yourself.
Be thankful for it. You are merely going through the way of the Masters. These are the great men who were toughened by adversity. Do realize that everything in life is a gift, whether you thought it was good or bad, at the time it happened. Everything is a gift and life is only about experiences.
I saw an Asian kid being prepared for gymnastics in the Olympics about 10 or 15 years ahead of her time. The coach stepped on her tiny and yet forming legs and thighs. The child screamed aloud in pain. Though excruciating, the motive was clear: She was being prepared for a glorious future.
Your pain may not be that physical. Your pain may be caused by rejection. It may be the result of denial or unmet needs that can easily lead to despair. It could spark physical hunger for a season. You could be likened to a desert traveler in search of an oasis. You are being prepared for the gain of the promise from pain; the proceed through tough processes.
That process had to be, depending on how you were wired, and it is further wiring you for the greater role of the future. Without the pain of the now, the management of the promise will be a huge task. The pain of the present is aimed to build and drill great character into you. Such is required to stay atop. Only the virtue of character and hard-earned principles sustain us in positions of promotion.
True leaders grow a thick skin. It's the experience that helps them keep their head down when there's a windfall of sorts. They are informed that the years of abundance are usually followed by years of dearth. They have been through scarcity before and do know that history does repeat itself. They had been prepared as horses are prepared for the day of battle.
When we are passing through momentary pain, our skin is being toughened with the oil of endurance, as we drink the tonic of recoil.
These values keep us in check always. They are as trees that survive long seasons of drought by sending their roots deep down to hit the water bed where they earn their survival during the dry season. When the dry season is over, they become stronger and more established. They bounce back. That is the principle of resilience taught by nature.
Thick skin is bliss. Cherish it if and when the growth season is upon you. You would have been toughened for leadership, self or otherwise, and uncommon strength for great service and accomplishments.
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