Last week, I got on the treadmill and started my workout. Not one minute in, I felt this pebble rolling around in my shoe.
Under my big toe.
Under my heel.
Under the middle of my foot.
On the side of my foot.
It was rolling around everywhere in my shoe.
I was only one minute into my treadmill workout, and I told myself, “Just take a second, take your shoe off, and get rid of the pebble.”
But nope, I didn’t take my own advice. I thought it would be fine. It was just a little pebble. I kept going, refusing to take the time to empty my shoe.
After the 20-minute treadmill run, the pebble no longer felt like a pebble. I am pretty sure that by the end of those 20 minutes, I had a boulder in my shoe. My big toe hurt. My heel hurt. The bottom of my foot hurt. Even the side of my foot hurt.
All because, after one minute on the treadmill, I didn’t want to take 30 seconds to shake out the pebble.
I know you are probably thinking the same thing I am now: “Goofball, why didn’t you just take a few seconds to get the pebble out?”
It sounds like an easy enough fix to prevent all that pain and discomfort.
But aren’t we all a little guilty of ignoring the easy fix because we don’t want to take the time? Somehow, illogically, it seems as though stopping will take more time. Sure, it would have taken 30 seconds, but that little pebble would have stayed a pebble and been tossed out of my shoe.
We tolerate the pebbles in our lives because we don’t want to have the conversation, admit we were wrong, take the next faithful step, take action, show emotion, or even acknowledge that something is bothering us.
Just as the pebble in my shoe became a boulder by the end of my workout, so too can the pebbles in our lives become boulders when left unattended.
My challenge to each of us is this: Once we recognize the pebble and the potential problem it could cause, take the time to have the quick conversation. Take the quick action. Take the quick step of faith. Say the quick “I was wrong” or even the quick “That bothers me.”
Empty that tiny pebble from your life.
The pebble was always a pebble, but we allowed it to become a boulder because of the amount of time we let it roll around in our lives.
Empty the pebble from your shoe and get on with life—with less discomfort and less pain.