A Mile In My Shoes?

Normally, when you hear the term, "walk a mile in my shoes," it is usually connected to a person offering another the opportunity to see how hard or difficult their life is. It almost never refers to things which are overwhelmingly positive. Not that the alternative is always negative, but it is rarely attractive. I would venture to say that trying to walk a mile in someones else's shoes only proves that their shoes don't fit. 

We are all made up of different "stuff." Trying to covet what someone else has or their lives in general, is soooooo not worth it. That kind of behavior only breeds dissatisfaction and discontent. On the other hand, trivializing what someone else is going through is insensitive.  Yeah, all of us could look at another person's situation and say, "well, I would never do that," or "why doesn't he/she just do this?" It's easy to judge another person's walk, (if you will) when we don't know their complete story. 

I'm writing this for myself just as much as I am for those who will be encouraged by reading it. I have to constantly remind myself that my walk, is mine. Yes, I want other things out of this life for myself and my children, but not at the expense of coveting what someone else has or obsessing about things which add no real value to my life. I also have to remember to be sensitive to the walk that others take when it looks completely different from my own. My children will have walks which are different than mine, (hopefully, sans the unnecessary stumbling) and I want to be there for them and help them walk confidently into the world which awaits them. 

I said all of that to say: appreciate where you are in your own walk, whether it is difficult or carefree, knowing that everything that we go through in this life helps to build our character. Whatever things you don't like, change them, or make real plans to change them. Don't judge another person's journey unless you have been apart of it, and even then, whatever commentary you have to add, should be of the mind set of making that person better. That's all folks!

~E. RaMona