Men are like shoes, comfortable, yet can cause tremendous blisters and sores, thus leaving your feet in band-aids for days, only to cause an unwanted ugly scar. At 27 years old, I can say I have experienced extremely comfortable, as well as some of the world's most uncomfortable shoes ever made.
I had once thought some of my all time favorite types of shoes were the worn out old dirty sneakers. Kind of like my very first relationship I ever had. At the beginning, I found that the shoe was an interesting one. I suppose however, it intrigued me more than anything else because I had never had a relationship (or a real shoe) throughout high school so this was my first. The shoe was not very comfortable to say the least, and for the most part came to me all warn out and lazy. You could tell that it had been scuffed, highly used and dirty. The shoe lacked motivation and excitement yet, still I pursued this uninteresting footwear for 2 years.
Having this be my first "real shoe" I was excited, and being right out of high school I was naïve and young, living on lust and wonder to guide me instead of maturity and wisdom. After a while, the shoe began to wear wrong on my foot. It began to cause an uncomfortable blister-like pattern on my toes, and it seemed every time I was ready to turn it in for a new pair, it kept coming back like an unwanted penny, yet capturing my heart once again.
My parents began to tell me that the shoe looked tight and unflattering on my foot, but being 18 years old, I of course knew more than my parents and simply brushed off any good advice they gave me. Now today, I wished I would have listened, as my feet seem to be scarred from the awkward, unpleasant shoe I wore for 2 years. At the time however, I loved those shoes, my heart always beating quickly every time I wore them and the feeling of being the luckiest girl in the world seemed to come over me. After a while though, the shoe began to tarnish and my feet seemed to be growing and maturing, yearning for a more adult-kind of shoe. Finally, the shoes no longer fit my foot anymore, and I was heartbroken.
After that, I tried on other shoes and, like most shoes, I found them exciting and new, however some were the most uncomfortable shoes to have ever left a factory, and I still seemed to miss my old ones. After a while, I came across a different pair that I had never really seen before. The shoes were fun, exciting, bold and full of life; they soon became to be known as my ruby slippers. I was immediately drawn to them and excited to see what other unique qualities they had. The shoe fit well, and I was happier than I had ever been. Finally I found a great pair of shoes, and they were, completely out of the norm, just what I was looking for.
I loved those shoes; I had loved them from the moment I laid eyes on them. Everything about them was perfect; they were so goal oriented, motivated, free-spirited, and light on my feet, a complete opposite from my last pair. I felt at ease, for these shoes were the ones I had wanted to wear the rest of my life. At first the shoes were so amazing that I thought they had to be a dream, but after some time they seemed to grow lax and uninterested in me. I tried to take extremely good care of them, and pushed on despite the small uncomfortable moments. The shoes stayed new and clean for the most part and I could see myself never wearing another pair again.
As time went on the uncomfortable moments began to come more frequent and I began to worry. Is this not the right shoe for me? I quested and the thought of that seemed terrible; for these were the best shoes ever made I thought at the time. Then one day I found myself unable to find these amazing shoes, they simply just disappeared out of my life. I searched endlessly, spending countless days trying to figure out what went wrong and where these shoes could have gone. I went over and over in my mind questions of - did I not take good enough care of them? I kept out hope however, for their return, and to no avail as they never came back. Without explanation, the shoes I had so lovingly adored were gone.
After that I was truly devastated, convinced I would never find another pair like them. Once again I was back to trying on other types of shoes. There were many new and different ones that seemed to be out there that I hadn't ever seen before. And, after a while the ruby slipper was a faint memory in my mind.
As time goes by I continue to find amazing shoes as well as some very unflattering and ugly ones out there as well. I have learned lots thus far from my many different kinds of shoes I have worn over the years. Yet, through it all I find that no matter what, the old tennis shoe is still a part of my past and there are many others just like him out there in this unending world of shoes. I also have found that ruby slippers are not quite as unique as I had once thought, as there are many other shoes that seem to be just as comfortable.