Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy
Welcome to Day 69 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.
This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom.
Remove the Pebble from Your Boot
Thank you for joining us for our 7 day a week, 7 minutes of wisdom podcast. This is Day 69 of our Trek, and yesterday we looked at the 6 essential components for a rich and satisfying life and realized that it is the simple and small things of life that make a difference. Speaking of small things, today we will look at what we should do when we get a pebble in our hiking boots.
We are recording our podcast from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. When this podcast originally airs, we will have about 30 family members joining us for the weekend. It is always a great time of fellowship and fun. Although The Big House is always in some state of renovation, we did get most of the rooms back into a livable order for the weekend, as we will be having all six of the bedrooms occupied. Everything will fall into place as it should.
As we now shift our focus to our Trek today, we want to learn why we need to take care of the small details when they occur to prevent them from turning into major details.  When we hike the rough mountainous trail of life, it is very important that we have the proper boots or shoes on for the type of trek we are taking. We need to make sure they fit correctly and are laced up snugly.
Boots and other types of shoes have always played a role in history and culture. Everyone knows the story of Cinderella and the glass slipper or the tale of Puss and Boots. Remember Dorothy's magic ruby shoes in the Wizard of Oz?
Language is littered with references to shoes. We wait for the other shoe to drop, or try to experience life in another person's shoes. One has big shoes to fill when he takes on a new challenge. There is the phrase, "If the shoe fits, wear it."
Shoe design can indicate a person's wealth and social position, as reflected in the quality of material or the complexity of the workmanship used to make shoes. Shoes can show membership in a particular group, like cowboy boots or motorcycle boots. High heels make a social statement, as do a sensible pair of Oxfords. Celebrities are known for the number of pairs they own.  For me, my favorite pair of shoes are my Birkenstock Super Noppy Sandals.  They have small nubs on them which massage my feet all day.  Since I use a standing desk at all times, I find myself on my feet for 10-12 hours each day, and these sandals are the only shoe that allows me to do so.   My mom got me hooked on these in my early adult life, after she had purchased a pair for herself and I tried them out.
What one does with shoes also makes a statement. Mine is for comfort, but in Middle Eastern counties, for example, throwing shoes at someone is an insult.
Wearing the correct shoes or boots for the situation or occasion is important.  This is especially true when you are hiking through rugged terrain over many miles. Even when you do have the correct boots and make the proper preparations, you can still get small pebbles in your hiking boots. At first it may not be noticeable and not present an issues, but let us look how the small, seemingly insignificant issues in life can create a major problem.
The following parable should help you to understand. A man was hiking on a steep mountain the other day when a tiny pebble about the size of a grape nut kicked up and landed in the heel of his boot. At first the pebble was barely noticeable, so he kept going. Then it began to be more and more noticeable and started hurting badly until eventually the pain subsided and his heel was numb. When he got home from the hike, his heel was bleeding, and it took a while for his foot to recover. In fact for the next few weeks whenever he hiked the wound reopened. If he would have stopped and taken the pebble out right away,