I used to spend hours picking shoes.
Not because I liked shopping. Because I had big feet, and I was terrified someone would notice.
I’d try on pair after pair, turning my foot this way and that, trying to find the one that would make them look smaller. Hours. Over shoes.
This spring, I was supply teaching, and a couple of girls were stuck on a school project. I suggested a few ideas based on what they liked.
“No way,” one said. “The class will laugh at me.”
And I just sat there, in disbelief.
Not at them. At how familiar it sounded.
I told them -“who cares.” Let them laugh. If that’s what you like, be yourself, show them. And if they laugh, if they criticize, they’re not worth your time or energy anyway.
People spend so much energy worrying about what other people think, and most of those people are too busy worrying about themselves to even notice.
I used to believe everyone was watching that closely.
I don’t anymore.
And now, when I think about those hours spent on shoes – I just laugh. Big feet and all.
