It's Not The Bite It's The Toxins

I am back at work in my garden again. Having been on the road for most of the past 6 weeks I'm finding that my weeds did not take any time off! As always, a continuous stream of work awaits me.

The last time I worked in the garden I got two mosquito bites on my arm. They are only about 3 inches way from each other. One has followed a pretty normal course and is simply a small red bump. The other turned into a giant, painful, red lump. It is hot, itches like the devil and hurts!

The bites are no doubt from different mosquitoes, but it is rather shocking how different the symptoms are.

I've heard that if you are allergic to something that a mosquito bites before you, the reactions can be quite spectacular. That may be what I'm experiencing with the big welt.

This experience got me thinking about the fact that the bite itself isn't what actually matters, it's what comes in with the bite. There is some sort of irritant that comes with the bite that actually causes the pain, itching and swelling. Sometimes it's minor and sometimes it's major.

I think it is the same with difficult experiences in our lives. There is the original event (the bite) and then there is the toxic stuff that comes into our lives with the bite. Those toxins are actually what cause the problem... long after the bite has occurred.

With the bite, I've done all I can to minimize the impact of the poison I took in (antihistamine, caladryl lotion, ice/elevation,etc).

With toxic or traumatic events we have a lot to say about how we deal with them. The bite happened, we can't undo that fact, but we can decide how we will deal with the poisonous toxic stuff that comes into our life with the event.

We have emotions that come up in response to the bite. Some of those can be really destructive - to ourselves and to others. It is our responsibility (and within our control) to deal constructively with those emotions.

Likewise, we have control over our reactions to the bite. We can lash back at the person(s) who bit us, and take actions from a vengeful stance. We can try to make others feel the same pain that we are feeling. None of that helps our bite feel any better, in fact, it only intensifies the 'mess' and pain of the situation.

Sometimes when a 'bite' occurs in our life, we need to 'clean house' and cut loose people or situations that are not good for us. This too, is within our control.

Being angry at the mosquito for biting us doesn't heal the bite any faster.

Being angry at a person or situation for entering our life and causing problems is just as fruitless. We need to face and deal with the aftermath of the bites we receive, take responsibility for the only thing we can control - our self and our own reactions - and move forward.

Got any itchy, swollen bites in your life at the moment? Are you helping them heal, or continuing to perpetuate the pain and suffering related to them?

Release the venomous toxins... and realize that into every life a few bites must come. No one escapes being bitten once in a while. It's part of the human experience. Many have been bitten, and many recover. No sense holding on to what could be a passing pain. Let it go!