Growing up, one of my favorite baseball players was Steve Avery, a dominant pitcher for the Atlanta Braves. Before injuries changed his career, he was electric—one of the best on the mound. Recently, watching old clips of his playing days stirred a deeper thought in me.

All of us, at some point, have been hurt. Wounded. Spiritually injured. And the dangerous story we tell ourselves is this: I used to be good before I got hurt. This episode is a reminder not to live in that sentence. You are not defined by the injury. You are not finished because you fell. Healing is possible. Growth is still ahead. Get back up. Recover. And don’t let it be said that the best of you only existed before the pain.