Last night at a beautiful gathering of friends a soulful woman shared a story that stayed with me throughout the night. She spoke about a man she knew who owned a pig farm up in these mountains. The man was in constant pain. His feet ached so much that it was preventing him from keeping up the farm. He was depleted of energy. The feet ailment was paralyzing him. He couldn’t move forward with his farm or anything because of this issue. Then one day something magical happened. He noticed that he was wearing his boots on the wrong feet. At that moment I had one of those Millie shout outs that I think I am keeping to myself but the filtering has decided to be loud (real loud with a few cursed words)! “Wow…what a metaphor for how we often live our lives…walking in the wrong shoes.”
Often times what we think is drastic or catastrophic is as simple as sitting down, breathing and looking down at ourselves. What are we doing wrong? What path are we not following? What am I doing to my poor feet? Step out of the shoes and try new ones. Make a new path. Switch the darn boots if you must. There are times we live our lives walking on eggshells as not to hurt another. Sometimes in the process of not hurting another we hurt ourselves even deeper. We don’t take responsibility for our own foundation.
Life is based on the walks we take…the decisions we make…the choices we put forward. Don’t waste another day being depleted with pain. Remove yourself. Move forward. Take the pebbles off the boots, the dirty tight socks, and change the way you look at each step you make. You also have no business walking in another’s shoes. Be grateful for your journey. Be present with all that you have traveled. Have a blessed day.
Moments with Millie 
I spent about two hours this morning writing a password-protected post about my frustrations with a certain human. I felt a little better after writing them down. Sort of like taking the pebbles out of my shoes. Now I need to change the way I look at each step I take. I am grateful for the journey with all its ups and downs.
Inspiring as you always are when I visit. Sounds so simple yet we work so hard to find that path that’s ours alone.
Thanks for this story and your encouragement dear Millie. Going to check on my tight shoes right away!
Thank you, my dear friend. Sending a ton of love from the mountains.