Love and Shoes

It is not easy picking out the right pair of shoes.
There are quite a number of things one must consider…

You are in the shoe store and become overwhelmed with the vast variety of shoes on display. There are almost too many shoes to choose from: different colors, different fabrics, different heels, flats, stilettos, boots, sneakers, etc….and of course different prices! Some are intriguing, while others do not interest you in the very least.

You come across one pair of shoes. Do they fit? Are they your style? One good way to find out is to try them on….

You ask for your size and the retail clerk brings you a shoebox with a pair of shoes. You gently open the shoebox and pull out one of the two shoes laying ever so neatly in it. Before putting on the shoe, you must first remove the shoe you currently have on and bare your foot. You notice how worn the shoes you are current wearing are. Perhaps it was a good idea to go shoe shopping today??

However, some are afraid of going shoe shopping because they are embarrassed of showing their feet to others. But one must open up and reveal onself because this is the only way to try something new. Or one may rather continue wearing the worn shoes, which will eventually pierce holes through them and will cause feet to blister. This will cause pain….

After deciding it may be a good time to try on some new shoes, you untie the negative strings and gently remove one shoe. You wiggle your toes, arch and flex your foot noticing this feels pretty good. Once your foot is bare, stretched and relaxed, you carefully pull out one of the shoes from the shoebox, and try it on. It fits! You want to see how it looks on you.

You walk over to the mirror to see how the new shoe looks (while still wearing your worn out shoe on the other foot). You like it. It looks good on you. You like how it looks on you. You like the feeling of this new shoe. Fellow customers in the shoe store compliment how great the shoe looks on you. You compare it to your old shoe you are still wearing and wonder why it took you so long to try on new shoes. But before making a decision, you must stop glorifying this one shoe and how it good it looks and try on the second shoe in the box.

While walking back toward the shoebox where the second shoe awaits, you notice a couple of numbers on the shoebox that you did not realize before. It’s the price! OMG! Are you willing to invest in these shoes? Though they feel great and make you feel different in a positive way, are you ready to make a sacrifice to buy these shoes? Maybe you would like to try on the second shoe in the shoe box to make your ultimate decision…

Though shaken by the conflicting feelings of loving how great the shoe looks and uncertainty of taking on the responsibility of the investment, you open the box and unveil the second shoe. It looks exactly like the one you have tried on just from a different perspective. You still like how it looks, but now you have uncovered more information from the pair. You already know you like how the one shoe fits, but you are not sure whether you can invest in this pair. You are willing to try on the second shoe to find out more information about the pair.

More quickly than before, you undo the laces of your worn shoe and bare your foot. You gently pull out the second shoe from the shoebox and slide your foot in it. Now you are wearing the full pair. You stand on both feet and realize you were more balanced than then you were wearing your worn shoe with the one shoe because these shoes have a slight heel. You want to walk towards the mirror again to see how the pair of shoes look on you. They look great! But do they fit your personality?

You start to think about this. Do these shoes fit your personality? You remember that you have always wanted a pair of heels. However, since you have worn your beat up shoes for such a long time, you thought that you would never feel comfortable or used to wearing heels. But the shoes you are wearing now feel great. These shoes are perfect for your because before rushing into getting four inche heels, starting out slow with a slight heel is the best choice for you. Just like a baby crawls before it walks, one must take baby steps before jumping into something completely foreign and new.

After giving it some thought, you decide you are going to take the pair of shoes! You are willing to invest in this pair knowing that it looks great on you, it fits your growing personality, and it will teach you how you walk in heels.

You happily walk back to the bench you have sitting on, you carefully remove the shoes, put them back into the shoebox and put on the worn pair you were wearing. You tell the retail clerk that you will take them. She says it is a great shoe and it is a good choice. She takes the box from you and puts it behind the register.

While you gather you things and walk towards the register, you notice another shoe store across the store you are currently in. There is a BLOWOUT SALE….50% OFF ALL SHOES! Even though you did decide that you were willing to invest in the pair of shoes that you found in this store, you do not want to buy them before checking out the sale in the other store. You know that you do not have to make a big investment in the shoes in the BLOWOUT SALE, and who knows? There might be one just as great as the shoes you just tried on. You walk towards the register and tell the retail clerk that you will be back in a few minutes.

You hurry to the store with the BLOWOUT SALE and see boxes are all over the place. Disorganized, disorderly, people trying on many pairs of shoes at once, and you are looking through the boxes trying to find something similar to the shoe you found in the previous store. Boxes, boxes, boxes…..shoes, shoes, shoes….You notice that there is not as much variety as in the other store, You only see flats, or really high heeled shoes – nothing in between. After looking through many boxes, and trying on many shoes, you are dissatified and did not find a shoe that made you feel like the shoe from the previous store.

After searching for shoes in the BLOWOUT SALE for an hour, you hurry back to the previous store and tell the retail clerk that you still want the shoes that you tried on previously. She apologizes and says that the last pair was just taken ten minutes ago. You look around and you see someone wearing the shoes you previously tried on and happily walking out of the store. This person looked really happy and content with the shoes……while you just missed out in having the shoes that you really wanted, even though they were on your feet one hour ago…….

The moral of the story:

The first shoe represents the body, looks, physicality……
The second shoe represents the soul, personality, and getting to know more…..
The worn shoes represent the baggage from your past and previous relationships…..
The BLOWOUT SALE represents looking for something “better”…..
The pair of shoes represents what you want……..
The price represents investment in relationship……..
The slight heel represents a gradual improvement………
The bare foot represents vulnerability……….
Shoe shopping represents willingness to see something new……
Customer walking out with the pair of shoes you previously tried on represents losing what was yours to keep.