I absolutely love this! As a dented, frequently fractured and, as yet, not too wrinkled 65 year old, sporting quite a few of life's invisible battle scars, I look back to when I was a new shoe rather than an old boot! I remember how much that newness pinched and rubbed and how uncomfortable it felt, especially when compared to the comfort of the worn wrinkled leather of this old boot that has moulded itself over the years until I'm really very comfortable in it!
I remember too how, back then, my choice of shoe was so often completely impractical, determined by fashion, my own insecurities or what others liked - high heels were always the favourites of boyfriends etc. Back then the 5ft 2 me needed the physical and psychological boost those high heels provided - and I wore them all the time! Even at work, standing up all day, I would not have been caught dead in comfortable flatties - and I didn't know what a hiking boot was, much less actually own a pair!!
Now don't get me wrong, I do still love an elegant high heel when the outfit or occasion calls for it - or just because I feel like it! And there's the difference - now I'm just as comfortable choosing to wear trainers or flatties (and in truth my feet are decidedly more comfortable!), I no longer need the boost of high heels (and I'm still 5ft 2!) and I love my hiking boots and all the places that they take me to! Much as I love them, I can't walk comfortably for 10 minutes in my 'car-to-bar' high heels but in my 'access-all-areas' hiking boots I can walk for miles, climb peaks to see amazing views, tramp across streams or boggy fells and keep my feet perfectly dry and comfortable for 10 miles or more.
And that highlights for me the beauty of the ageing process, for people as well as shoes....... those beautiful, perfectly-formed new shoes looked great but they hid a multitude of sins like blisters, aching arches and, in later years, bunions!! They were also very restricting, limited in their practical usefulness and the places they could actually get me to! A metaphor for me at that time. The transition from beautiful new shoe to comfy old boot is a metaphor for my life - and maybe yours too.
It was a gradual process during which I became aware of the limitations of those shoes that I wore for all kinds of reasons that became less important to me as time went by. I began to feel the damage being caused, not just to my feet, but to my being. And over time I began to make different choices, expanded my shoe wardrobe (very literally!) to include all kinds, for all sorts of purposes. And, yes, I made some bad choices along the way! Some were worn only once and some never came out of the box, some cost a lot but didn't last very long..... and others were worn every day with a determined smile despite how much they hurt, because I told myself I loved them and just needed to persevere rather than acknowledge that they just weren't right for me.......
Eventually though, I learned ..... learned what really fit and suited me, what I really needed, what enabled me to do what I wanted in my life, without all the pinching, rubbing and damage. I learned the value of substance over style, of comfort over pain, of freedom over restriction.... I learned that the 5ft 2 me is fine as it is and did not need to be enhanced in ways that were painful and damaging, that I could be more me, not by increasing my height, but by dancing in bare feet, shopping in flatties and hiking in comfy boots! I learned to embrace the freedom of old boots, with their wrinkled but soft leather, to love the scratches and scars that give them character and show they've been places, climbed tough peaks, risen to the challenges and seen the views from the top - and brought me back home safely.......
And very happy that I made the most of the trip.
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