Week 22A – New shoes

“I need a new pair of running shoes,” I thought to myself as I was especially excited that the turn of a season is just around the corner. Running has been my preferred way to get exercise in each week for the past 10+ years and completing a marathon is on my bucket list. And so, around this time of year I tend to feel a refreshed excitement rush through my veins and that it is easy to day dream of the ideal routines, meal plans and techniques for the season ahead. Spring of 2017 is almost here and I hadn’t switched out shoes for a good couple of years, I quickly concluded that  I needed to do so soon, however, every percentage of my weekly paycheck has a purpose and does not leave me with much to work with. Well I was not going to give up just like that(Persistence is my virtue to focus on for this week), so I made a very conscious decision that went like this…  I could allow $10 max to go towards my hobby. If I could find a pair for this price or less I would purchase and if not, well, I would just have to be sure to warm up carefully before heading out on a jog. I said a little prayer asking for His will to be done, then went on with my day. Later on in the week I found myself at my favorite thrift shop dropping off donations, which means more space in my house(hooray!!), and decided to pop in.

Now, we all know how important shoes are in general, especially those we spend the most time in, and for a variety of reasons most of us could agree that purchasing new and high quality shoes are worth the investment, both avenues of time and money . Well this rings true all the more with running shoes, you DO NOT buy these at thrift shops, you just don’t, but I figured that I had to check since I set such a low maximum on my budget. I walk in, make a beeline for the shoes, find the active sports rack and let my gaze browse the three shelves. My eyes land on a few possibilities but, and not to my surprise, they don’t fit or do not provide the support that I am looking for. So I am about to walk away when a peachy pink NIKE symbol jumps into my peripheral vision. I look up to the top shelf and sure enough, there a beautiful, close to brand new pair of NIKE jogging shoes sit. I do not know how I missed them because they stuck out like a sore thumb among the rest, being so bright and beautifully unused. I instantly detour the thought that I should be skeptical as I am not seeing a tag, pull them down, put them on and then proceed to melt. They fit and support my feet perfectly! I even like the look, which is a simple cherry on top.

I bring them up front to get a price check and was given a kind apology for the “error” which was followed with an employee discounted total, that came to be just over $6.00 with tax.

So I received my shoes with a grateful heart and my feet are HAPPY! But what a gateway this experience has been, leading to a whole series of mini breakthroughs for me this week. Won’t go into them all now but instead I will share this bit of wisdom from Emerson with you…

Don’t stop. Keep striving to reach YOUR best.