Have you ever thought how ugly a person’s feet are? ---Except, of course, those which regularly enjoy glorious sessions at the spa or beauty salon. Otherwise it’s the most physically battered and bruised part of the body. It gets scrapped, cut, stepped on, and also burns, ingrown nails, dead toe nails, corns, and bunions. Maltreated and abused most times by sheer common negligence and often by the wrong shoe size.
Feet are us. We’re so much like our feet; we carry ‘human’ bunions all our life --- the bunions of pride, ego, prejudices, negative feelings, idiosyncrasies, character quirks, and personal history of pain. Unlike feet bunions, these don’t heal. No, because they have entrenched themselves well in our character leaving deep scars we may carry for the rest of our life. Those things helped mold us, like it or not. But maybe we can soften it, tone it down, mellow it, or perhaps push it far back. Or restructure? Well, maybe some, a few, slow, scarcely. We may or may not be successful in trying. But like bunions on our feet, these get stepped on or rubbed frequently the wrong way in our daily lives as we interact with people, imaginary or not. See how often we get to be with each other and why we fight, hate, hurt, and deceive each other at every turn of our messed up lives. We think nothing in violating the rights of individuals in pursuit of our own selfish interests and perceived righteous beliefs. We stop at nothing when others are perceived to infringe upon ours. We rouse ourselves up to hit back fiercely in defense of what we think is right to our rigid hearts and muddled brains. We do this, don't we? And people do this to us. I have yet to find one with nary a trace of this negativity. None excluded, including me. So now still wonder why we never lack of arguments, disagreements, scandals, law suits, and wars?
So how do we handle human bunions if we can’t treat them? I don’t know; maybe you have an idea; do share. Meantime we perhaps can try using a salve or balm of understanding, mixed with kindness and a dash of tolerance. That could smooth out ruffled feelings some way. The thing to remember, I suppose, is that bunions are here to stay. It’s the whole human package, warts and all. We can’t really go on through our lives rubbing people the wrong way at every bend, no matter how we may think it’s ‘fair’ or ‘justified’, because undoubtedly there’s a lot of history behind a person’s ‘bunions’. Bruise it --- and we may be bruising his soul.
So please, don’t step on my bunions? :-)
posted on Saturday, December 09, 2006 11:45 AM
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