THE GRAIN OF SAND IN YOUR SHOE

Shoe…shoe…’ cried out the little boy to his mother. She immediately took the little one to the safer side of the pavement; bent over to his shoe unlaced it and peeked inside to see what the problem was. Out poured grains of sand! As what mothers would naturally do, she got rid of it made sure there was nothing left inside the shoe and then put it back on the kid’s foot again.

I was watching the whole thing a few meters away from where I stood at the bus terminal waiting for my ride. Grains of sand, what is it about small things that they can make you cry and stop your world for a moment!

Well, having grains of sand in my shoe would surely be quite prickly and may even hurt my foot, just like the kid But more so would be the fact that it would irritate me, anger me, turn my otherwise happy frame of mind askew-out of kilter and that in itself would take care of the rest of the day – ruined for sure!

Let’s take that over to the bigger picture which is life.

What are those things which bog you down, divert you from your destination, annoy you, or make you clench your teeth in rage? What is it that makes you stop dead on your track or take you up to an immovable block on life’s road? What would upset you so much and almost make you want to give up?

There are plenty and you would be surprised to find out that they are made up of the small irritations or vexations of the day. Not only that but also the bigger issues and concerns which may keep you from moving forward or may even take you a few steps backwards or sometimes take you to a full stop.

Altogether these can absolutely wear you down. No one can stay on tough and hearty 24/7 through all the bump-and-grind of our respective journeys in life. No smooth journey for anyone there for sure. Well, nobody said it was going to be easy. Instead we have been distinctly forewarned that things may even get tricky, tougher, risky, thorny, uncertain, and vague. True enough it’s everything they’ve said it was. Life is truly everything that’s been said about it.

I had my share of it. Many times did I battle issues and concerns, big and small, and many times it made me cry. Sometimes I would find myself just standing there beaten and tired so worn-out that I didn’t think I could go on with it all. Oh yes, it feels that way when you’re downright exhausted from your battles.

But at this particular point you must pull yourself together and stand up again mighty and tall. And you may ask with what? --With a clear understanding of this that…..

“It isn't the mountains ahead that wear you out,
it's the grain of sand in your shoe.”

Unfortunately, nobody knows who wrote that. But it sure is wisdom that hits you straight up so true -- It’s the nitty-gritty business of’ pursuing ‘winning’ a battle or a goal or a dream that is truthfully tiring, exhausting, wearying to the body and soul. But then we can’t let this halt our dreams, can we? So then we deal with it, cope with the vexation thrown our way – with everything that we are, with strength and courage we may have even thought wasn’t there. Lest you forget, we have been fully equipped for the task at hand by a wise Benefactor, so simply access and retrieve it from within you. He placed it there.

Well, here comes my bus. So much for now, see you guys in the next ‘ish! Ciao! God bless you.


posted on Thursday, March 01, 2007 10:19 AM