Be Gracious and ACCEPT the Gifts of Life!!

Years ago, Bill and I set off for one of our adventures in our Cocoon, though a bigger version of the first 18' hi-lo we journeyed in for 90 days all over the US a few years before.  This time we decided on the Canadian Maritime provinces - New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and PEI. How is this factoid related to a collage of shoes??  Look at the next to last row and the third picture in.  We were walking at the Lobster Festival in Sheddiac, New Brunswick and I saw a young girl walking toward me with MISMATCHED SHOELACES.  As my dream is always to go out into the world mismatched (still a challenge, even as an evolving free spirit), I stopped her and asked if I could take a picture of her shoes.  She gave me an amused and amazed look but said, "Sure".  There it all began.  In my collection now, I have over 1000 pictures of people and their shoes.  WHY?  and what does this have to do with ACCEPTANCE??  Everything on several levels.  First, when sister, Lisa, and I were in New England a few years back, I was taking pictures of shoes and bare feet and she started thinking how they represented diversity.  Then I got to the thought of Unity...and Diversity.  I realized that most everyone wore shoe coverings of some sort (or bare skin, sometimes adorned with gems and bangles) and that made us all the same in some way.  The differences came in what we wear and why we choose what we do.  Sometimes it is for comfort - sometimes for appearance - and maybe because they are the only ones we have?!?  So we must accept each person for his/her unique individuality of expression.
   Now take it a step further in my story about acceptance.  My feet were hurting - bunions and hammer toes and I decided to have surgery. (If I had it to do over again, maybe I would have opted for larger wider shoes and stopped at that!)  I found a surgeon, had the surgery and the resulting screws in my feet and then lived the healing process.  Two years later - the doctor said that everyone healed at individual rates - there is still numbness and lack of healing.  I am wondering now if there are severed tendons as a result of the operation.  A neurologist is helping me see where the neuropathy is coming from.  Might be the operation and might just be something with the nerves in the lower back.  Next week will offer more puzzle pieces in place as we review the results of the MRI on the lower back.  OK Martie - get to the point!!  ACCEPTANCE.  I have to learn that the doctor did the best he could, though not a perfect operation and IF the numbness comes from the surgery, maybe, just maybe, I will have to accept it and live with it.  Time will tell - and yes, it is all connected.  Fancy shoes for some...numb toes and wide plain shoes for others.  Gratitude that I have my feet and can walk - maybe slower, but I can do it and for this I am thankful!!