Over time, people gather up and honor the little wisdoms of life. We call them everything from platitudes to adages. One of the more respected adages is: "Don't judge another person until you've walked in their shoes."
On first impression, makes good sense. After some thought, though, could be seen in a very different light. It's not the people in the shoes that count so much as the shoes themselves. Every society considers certain shoes -- certain public roles in life -- as both special and enviable. Perhaps what we're really saying then is: given a chance, I'd very much like to walk in those shoes...!
Which president wouldn't like to stand in the admired shoes of a Jefferson, Jackson or Lincoln? Which Hollywood starlet with blond hair wouldn't aspire to be another Jean Harlow, Marilyn Monroe or Meg Ryan? Which quarterback wouldn't love to be another player-celebrity like Joe Namath or which pitcher would refuse to stand in the honored shoes of a Greg Maddox?
Here's the point.
When you turn this adage on its head, it's as much about wow as wisdom. Privately we all indulge in fantasies about being someone else, especially someone with fame and fortune. It's in the flawed nature of our species to be always on the hunt for something we haven't got. As Aesop reminds us in the tale of the dog with the meat. Chewing on a big hunk of steak, the dog stopped to look at himself reflected in the water. But when he saw a dog with what looked like a bigger slab of beef, he leaped in for the kill. Only to lose what he already had.
This yen to walk in someone else's shoes, bigger and better than our own, is at work everyday. Everywhere. Everyone. Sat -- it may even help explain why so far 76 people have filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to run for president in 2012. Seventy of them totally unknown, but anxious to change all that. Perhaps they haven't read the Mayan calendar which predicts the end of the world on December 21, 2012. Or maybe they wouldn't mind, just so long as they're in a bigger pair of shoes at the time...
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The great and abiding wisdom of my father of blessed memory came back to me as I read this Jack ... He told me when I was but a boy to withold envy and admiration of others and their circumstances & lot in life ... at least until I was fully aware of what took place in the 'world' ... He admonished me to make the most of my life and that the gift of love and happiness outweighed all the perceived plaudits and accolades given to men. He was a very wise father ... and for that I'm ever grateful.
ReplyDeleteWhen I read people fondly recalling their parents, I can't help but pray my three adult children have and/or will feel the same way. What an honor!
ReplyDeleteI hope that my two adult children will have an occasional fond glance backward as well Jack ...
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