your slippers
“The key to your happiness is to own your slippers, own who you are, own how you look, own your family, own the talents you have, and own the ones you don’t. If you keep saying your slippers aren’t yours, then you’ll die searching, you’ll die bitter, always feeling you were promised more.”
I love, love, love Verghese’s book, Cutting for Stone. I read it years ago and the text still feels new. Occasionally I visit my dog-eared copy to re-read underlined. Many sum up entire self-help genres.
So the quote above . . . owning our own slippers. Spending time comparing what we have to what we thought or expected we would have wipes out our view of what is.
And, sometimes, “what is” is enough. Oftentimes it is more than enough. Even when what we have isn’t enough or feels far from what we want, it can be the perfect jumping off place to move toward where we want to be. But we can never know the gifts of what we have and where we are if we don’t own them.
If your slippers are too tight, stretch them a bit. If they are bit big, grow into them or put those heel thingys in that make them feel tighter. If you prefer a different color for your slippers, step into different lighting or a walk in the rain to give them a new tone. Remember, slippers can be re-soled or -heeled. If they have laces, new ones will update them. There are all kinds of inserts that might make your slippers more comfortable. Just own those things. Wear them. Appreciate them. And give some big love to the parts of you who found them and who is figuring out how to walk to all the places you want to go in them.