Sometimes We’re Still Bleeding.

The other day I stubbed my toe on a metal frame — as most of us have at some point. My instinct kicked in: I repeated to myself “pain is mental, pain is mental” until the sting faded. I was in a good mood that morning, excited for what my day had in store, and I wasn’t about to let a stubbed toe throw me off. So I shoved the pain aside and refused to even look at it.

A couple of hours later, while getting ready and picking out shoes, I glanced down and noticed something surprising: blood on my toe, some dried and some still fresh. My nail polish looked nice, my mood was still intact, and I hadn’t felt pain in hours — but my toe had been bleeding the whole time.

That moment gave me a realization.

How often do we go through life the same way? We whisper to ourselves: “You’re fine. You’ll be okay. It’s not that bad. You’ve been through worse.” And yes, there’s truth in that. Pain is mental. We are resilient, and most things do pass. But sometimes, in convincing ourselves that we’re fine, we completely ignore the wound.

What if the bleeding doesn’t stop just because we decided not to feel it? What if we’re walking around smiling while quietly hurting, never acknowledging the injury?

That stubbed toe reminded me of the way we often treat our anger, sadness, or heartbreak. We push it down. We minimize it. We tell ourselves we’ll “get over it.” And maybe we do, eventually — but how much do we lose by not giving our pain the attention it deserves?

Pain isn’t just something to survive. It’s a messenger. It shows us where healing is needed, where boundaries were crossed, where care is required. To feel pain is not weakness — it’s guidance.

So next time you find yourself repeating “I’m fine” — pause. Ask yourself: am I really fine, or am I still bleeding somewhere?

Because healing doesn’t happen by ignoring. It happens by noticing, by tending, by honoring what hurts.

-Valeria