My Life in Flats

     At 5'4", I thought I would be in high heels forever, or at least until old age forced me into orthopedic comfort shoes.  In my early twenties, I suffered through it like a champ.  I remember lying in bed at night with throbbing feet.  By my late twenties, I sought out shoe brands that made "comfortable" heels.  Work smarter not harder- right. I figured wearing heels to give me height and style was just my destiny as a petite woman. Most of my girlfriends and co-workers certainly embraced wearing and complaining about heels, so I had plenty of company.

     Then I befriend some tall people and they wore flats. They went to standing-only concerts in flats, danced the night away in flats and walked the mall for hours in flats.  They wore flats to work, parties and every occasion.  Their feet were always comfortable.  I was kinda jealous.  But honestly, I was also spending more time in flats. CrossFit, yoga and running became my new pass times and high heels were not needed. Also, these things caused me to hurt physically, so my commitment to wearing high heels was significantly lessened.

     So, I started wearing flats to work and then I would wear them when I went out for fun. And...the world didn't end!  No one mentioned that I looked shorter.  In fact, I actually got complemented on my cute shoes. OMG I could get away with wearing flats!  I too could experience comfort at all times!  

     Shoes seem like such a trivial thing, but my fixed mindset requiring me to wear high heels was limiting me.  Life in flats is better.  I was fooling no one in heels, except myself.  Sometimes I still wear heels, but because I want to, not because I feel like I have too.

     Morale of the story: if you are forcing yourself to do something, take a moment to think about why you are doing it. If it doesn't make sense, do something different and see what happens.  This makes me think about what other unnecessary "shoulds" and "rules" I have for myself.