In the beginning, we find the woman is walking along her life’s path, barefooted. Shortly, she comes across a pair of discarded shoes. She tries them on and they fit… sort of. She has never had any shoes before, so she is not really sure what they are supposed to feel like. But, she is fascinated by them, and she walks on for a while in her new discovery.

A few miles down the path, she notices that there is a degree of discomfort beginning to develop, and not really remembering how good it felt without the shoes, she continues to wear them in spite of the surmounting pain.

Just when she thinks she can bear it no more, she comes across another pair of shoes on the path. She tries them on. This time, she notices that there is a hole in one of them and imagines that it may cause a problem somewhere down the road. But, since they do seem to fit better than the previous pair, she decides to wear them and leave the others behind. Again, since it has been some time since the beginning of her journey, it does not even occur to her how perfectly natural it felt when she had no shoes at all.

As it happened before, about the time this pair of shoes became unbearable, she came across another pair, this time being more aware of their condition, and realizing more their potential to eventually become unpleasant. Again, it seemed a better fit, and again, she took the new pair and left the old ones there.

After this process had cycled several times, it finally dawned on her that she may actually be better off without shoes. She takes them off, only to find that her feet have become accustomed to shoes, and that they feel very awkward without them.

The Moral:

If the shoes seem to fit, do NOT wear them, unless you are willing to adapt, and change your being, at the risk of not being able to return to your former degree of comfort.

And, mind you, this is not to say that change isn't good, or that experience isn't good; but that you must be willing to accept the evolution as, possibly, a permanent mutation from your former self… good, or bad.

Of course, you may eventually find an exquisite pair of shoes… especially after you have gotten very good at observing their condition and judging their potential.

~Dave De la Rosa is guitarist/singer/songwriter for our Unitic Band and for Tuxedo Junction and Simple Folk.  Dave & his wife, Jan, run Honeysuckle Hollow a unique antique/gift/apparel shop at 1536 Haywood Rd., Hendersonville NC. honeysucklehollow@earthlink.net