The Bleeding Forehead Story

Hey Beyonder!

It's December. And it's already raining in Chennai.

Last week, something happened that made me think differently about how we see pain.

Let me tell you the story.

The Event I Travelled Far For

I went to an event last week. Not just any event.

Shivakarthikeyan was there. He was launching an application.

Now, I'm not someone who gets into fan wars. But I've always respected this guy. He's witty. When he talks, he genuinely makes you laugh. And he's multi-talented.

I’m hoping to have him on my podcast soon :)

So I travelled pretty far to attend this event.

When Things Were Going Great

The event was amazing.

Many people came up to me. They took pictures. We talked. I was really happy to meet so many of you.

I remember thinking: "Man, everything is going great today."

Then it started raining. Heavily.

The Moment Everything Changed

I was trying to get into my car. Fast. The rain was getting worse.

I quickly opened the door.

And the edge of the lid hit my forehead.

Hard.

Within seconds, I was bleeding. For the next 10 minutes, blood kept flowing.

Here's what happened next: Everyone around me got concerned. People rushed to help. They brought tissues. They asked if I was okay. Everyone wanted to make sure I was fine.

But here's the weird part.

It didn't hurt at all.

I could see the blood. People could see the blood. But there was no pain. Just bleeding.

The Thing Nobody Noticed

Now let me tell you something else.

A couple of weeks ago, I had elbow pain. From playing too much badminton.

During that time? Nobody gave a fuck.

People continued to play badminton around me. They even called me to come play. Because they couldn't see the pain.

The pain was real. Very real. But it was invisible.

So they assumed it wasn't that bad.

Here's What I Realized

When something looks painful from the outside, people care.

When something is invisible, people forget it exists.

My bleeding forehead got instant attention. My painful elbow got none.

This made me think about something bigger.

Just because someone looks happy on the outside doesn't mean they are actually happy.

Just because someone looks sad doesn't mean they are deeply broken.

Just because you can't see someone's pain doesn't mean it's not killing them inside.

The Lesson

Don't take things at face value.

The most painful struggles are often invisible.

The biggest smiles sometimes hide the deepest pain.

And the person who looks like they have it all together? They might be struggling the most.

So next time someone tells you they're in pain - even if you can't see it - believe them.

And next time someone looks perfectly fine - check in with them anyway.

Because what you see on the surface is rarely the whole story.

Over to You

Have you ever felt this way? Where your pain was invisible and nobody noticed?

Or maybe you've been on the other side - assuming someone was fine because they looked fine?

I'd love to hear your thoughts. Hit reply and tell me your story.

See you next week!

Cheers,
Epaphra

P.S. The cut on my forehead? It's fine now. Left a small mark though. Every time I see it in the mirror, it reminds me of this lesson.