New Shoes

I spent many years believing that I wasn’t “made” for running, when really I just needed a different pair of shoes. What in your life is like that? When have you blamed yourself or given up doing something, when really you could thrive if you just changed your perspective, approach or circumstances?


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Video Transcript (edited):

I just got back from a run and it was awesome. It was bright and sunshiny and wonderful. As I was running back I started thinking about my shoes, which is funny because I haven't thought about these shoes in a long time.

To understand these shoes, you should know that I spent my early life dancing, and eventually hiking, and then eventually I wanted to run. But every time I ran my knees hurt. So from the time I was a teenager, I concluded that I was built wrong for running. When I ran downhill my knees hurt, and so I concluded there must be something structurally wrong with my knees or feet that prevented me from running downhill. Consequently, I would go out jogging and I would run up big hills and then walk back down in order to exercise. I spent much of my life, probably fifteen years doing this.

Then, I was probably thirty years old when I found these shoes. They are the flat-soled, “barefoot” shoes, the ones with individual toes and a minimal sole. This is not an advertisement for these shoes, but for me, starting the first day I put them on, I was able to run downhill! Without pain. That was amazing to me! These shoes fit me and allowed my body to do what it was built to do, and suddenly I was able to run! I could barely believe it. Running was completely transformed for me.

I haven't thought about that in a long time, but then just now I remembered that I spent over a decade of my life believing that something was wrong with me, when really I just didn’t have the right shoes.

That made me wonder what else in my life is like that? I can’t think of my own answer to that question right now, so I’ll just skip ahead and ask you, what in your life is like my shoes? When have you blamed yourself or given up on something because you thought you couldn’t do it, when really you need a metaphorical different pair of shoes? Maybe you need a different perspective, or a new approach. Or maybe you need a way to be true to yourself instead of assuming there is something wrong with you.

That's all for today.

Keep shining!

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