"Go the Extra Mile"

"The Journey of a Mile Begins with One Step.."

"Before you criticize...walk a mile in my shoes"

I've always found whimsy in shoes. Partially, I think this is because shoes tend to reflect our personalities as people. The shoe someone is wearing says a lot about them. Always polished? Perhaps incredibly organized. Mismatched? Perhaps detail-oriented in a different way. 

For me, I tend to wear out my shoes until you cannot walk with them anymore. I've worn shoes with the soles flapping and detached, the spring rain seeping through. I've worn shoes that have been worn from so many times of running and hitting the pavement that there is simply no traction left. Shoes without laces. Shoes with shortened laces. Shoes where my toe is sticking out. And for me. This is a perfect reflection of my personality. You have not lived a day until you have quite literally worn your shoes into the ground-giving 3,000 percent every hour. Making every moment on this earth count. 

So it could be my obsession with shoes that led me to the school track today. But it was also the opportunity to look at the shoes of the young people that will one day lead and create dreams of their own. And sometimes you can tell a lot from a single mile. It was interesting to watch the fighters. The three students who sprinted quite literally their entire mile happen to be the sweet souls who may not always be able to focus within the classroom. Then I had the soul who was much more interested in cheering everyone else on then actually running the mile to the end. All supportive of one another. Each making another footprint in the world of whimsy below the dream-filled skies. 

And through that mile much insight was gained. I wasn't there to find out who was the "fastest" or who was the "slowest." I was there for personality not agility. Unearthed discoveries not mindless curiosity. Some personality traits I have seen all along and other uncovered and discovered inviting me to step inside their shoes and see their footsteps carefully paving a path towards a new perspective. And until you walk that mile in someone else's shoe, you may be missing the pain someone is feeling or the excitement another feels or even understand why it is someone cannot sit still or who has the cognitive endurance to keep battling. Because the three that struggle to sit still were the free-est looking birds I have seen all year. Not unfocused just hopeful and eager to sprint in a new direction. I saw a few bumps and bruises I have not seen before. A few saddened souls. But more hope than sadness. 

And if you actually take time to think about the meaning behind the word sole and the meaning behind the word soul, you find they do create a new collective whimsy-a new definition. Your sole happens to be the underside of your shoe that comes in contact with the ground. This is the part of the shoe that comes in contact with life. For every journey taken and step initiated, your sole is quite literally making it's mark on the world. Your soul is hidden within your heart, but it is that center-station of whimsy that creates love and recognizes purpose, hope faith and confidence. Your soles are in constant communication with your soul, always thinking about the next adventure, the next steps of whimsy and the next mile.