Lessons from a Rock

There’s a rock in my shoe.

Actually it’s more like a pebble – a piece of gravel since the path is a bit of sand mixed with larger pieces of Earth. Whatever it is, it’s now in my shoe.

It took me a lot to get out here this morning. I’m tired from the extra movement added to my routine. Every morning adding daily steps to the count from the day before. Heavy lifting 5 days a week. And my summertime yoga sessions. Those are more sporadic and often so much harder than my daily norms. Sweat drips from every inch of my body while trying to ease into the flow – my body screaming “just give us a minuet to get there” while my mind is shouting “you’re behind. They are flowing into a different pose”! All while the soothing voice of our Yogi is repeating “we bend so we don’t break”. (Thanks Danielle – the loop continues well after class is over) The bending hurts more than moving miles…but at least with yoga, there aren’t shoes to trap rocks.

How did the rock get in there?

These shoes must be too wide. I should find ones with more support. No. These shoes are just the right size for my wide feet. I barely feel them and they don’t squinch my toes. That’s why you bought them, remember? Your toes were going numb on those long hikes. We need space to let our body swell from the constant pressure of walking up and down trails. More space is better. But now there is a piece of the Earth under my heel and I can feel it every time I take a step.

Stop. Empty out the shoe. Solve the problem. You can fix this.

If I stop on this path, I’ll just get more rocks in the shoe. That won’t help – or will it? Let me get to the top of this hill and I’ll adjust from there.

Where did the pebble go? Perhaps the incline of the hill shifted the stone to a place I can’t feel it. Good. I didn’t want to stop anyway. If I do, I’m afraid I won’t start again.

Is that healthy? To push yourself through pain? Actually with a stabbing pain in my foot from a rock in my shoe. That’s crazy. But really, am I in pain or it it an annoyance? A slight remembrance that the Earth is not stable, but fluid, flowing. (Maybe it needs to bend a bit more because it’s breaking into my shoe) Am I the problem though. If I weren’t treading on the Earth, it wouldn’t be breaking. Vicious cycle.

How poetic.

Knock. Knock. Who’s there? It’s me the rock. I’m back…Girl just STOP. It will only take 10 seconds to empty the pebble back to the Earth. Leave it on the trail where it belongs.

Soon I’ll be back to the car. Through these trees and down the long dirt road. This is the hardest part. This last mile. You go it. Visualize (like she says in yoga) you finishing these last steps. Push…that damn rock to the space under my arch were I can’t fee l it.

Skip this song. Too slow. It’s 100 degrees today. We need more “more energy. more passion. more energy” to get this one done. One mile. 15 minutes. 2000 steps. Actually that’s about 3 songs. Let’s go! I can see the car.

That was a good hike! (Takes off shoe- peers in). (Empties shoe). But nothing returns to the earth.

There was a rock in my shoe. Wasn’t there?