Shoe: Cleats

Over the weekend, I ran into a friend of mine, Noah (disclaimer: my sister’s friend).While we were catching up, he told me about his recent try-outs for Major League Baseball.

No shit, ya’all.

He didn’t make the team. But he has always been an avid baseball fan (He’d be my first pick for baseball trivia any day), and I’m quite impressed that he tried out for the team. He had to get up at 4:45 to get to the tryouts on time. He was competing against 150-200 other people on the field when the team was only looking to fill a limited number of slots. I can’t imagine how nervous I would have been. But, he was telling me about the experience on a real field–looking into the stands and completing the tryouts (which, apparently, took about 1 minute out of the 4 hours he was there).

To make a cheesy comparison, the conversation we had made me think about my decision to pursue independent social media consulting. It seemed like an easy decision to me. So far, it’s been a tremendous amount of work. And, so far, I have encountered some barriers. But I’m happy with what I’m doing.  I’m passionate about the field, I care about making sure I’m as current in the field as possible, and I want to exceed expectations when it comes to all of my client work.I like meeting with people, I like having to do the accounting and marketing on my end as well as for the clients with whom I am working.

I would have been more disappointed with myself had I chosen not to pursue this venture. I think Noah would think the same about his. And, I didn’t pursue this venture for any other reason than attaining a higher level of happiness and pursuing my goals. For me, it’s about going passionately in the direction of my dreams (cue inspirational music here). Moving away from the norm to make my own way. In the words of Babe Ruth himself, “Never let the fear of striking out get in your way.”

And sometimes, we don’t make the team. Sometimes, we don’t sign the clients to whom we pitch. But in the end, it’s always been worth it to me. I would rather have tried than not. I would have failed miraculously than failed myself by not following my passions. I would have rather played on that field than walked away.

To me, he made the team.

Image via Kaboodle and Baseball Field Design

Shoe: Crocks

Recently, I broke my foot.

No, really. I broke my foot. Actually, it happened a few months ago. I fractured my foot wearing cute shoes. Ironic? Perhaps. I thought that it was a sign to start blogging here. I mean, what a great first post topic. Feet.

So here’s the story: I fractured my foot over time wearing unsupported heals and flats. Ouch. I play a lot of volleyball and go to the gym (and continued to wear said shoes deemed ‘unsupported’ by my orthopedic doctor), and the fractures continued to grow. More ouch.

Finally, I went in to see the doctor for my elbow (hyperextension injury), and mentioned that I’ve had persistent discomfort in my foot. While the x-ray of my elbow showed no obvious impediment (duh, hyperextensions are muscle and tendon problems), the x-ray of my foot resulted in the doctor alerting me that I had “sesamoiditis.”

I laughed.

I mean, I found it funny that I’ve been walking around in gorgeous 4-inch wedges with a broken foot for the past few months.

Moral of the story is, I now have to wear crocks or very comfortable walking shoes to help heal the injury, or I will have to get cortisone shots and wear a boot (not particularly fashionable).

Perhaps the real moral is that we’re going to encounter broken feet (insert potentially cheesy metaphor here) throughout our worklife. The question is: how will we overcome them?

image via YepYep and image via Ohio Health