A few weeks ago a friend told me about the one day without shoes program. The point of the program is to bring awareness for the millions of children out there in the world who can't afford shoes. The reason why I got so involved in it is that even though I never was as poor as the children we are talking about, once upon a time my parents didn't have money to buy me shoes either. To be honest, the first time I bought shoes for myself was around 2003. So I feel very close to the subject, and even though I don't remember ever having to walk in the city completely bare-footed, I saw hundreds of children without shoes. And I didn't even have to go very far to see those children, I didn't have to go to Africa, it was just in the cities I lived in. Like Cluj or Budapest. And I'm sure there are thousands of children in the US too with the same problem.
Because of my religion I fast every month for 24 hours, no drinking and no food. And it is never hard for me and I never feel a struggle, I always feel strong when I'm doing it because I have a purpose for why I'm doing it. So Friday I woke up with the urge to do something, and the one day without shoes program was in my mind, and I knew exactly that one day for me is nothing, since most of the time I like to walk around barefoot anyway. But if I really want to make a difference or to feel like I'm doing something I must do it longer. So on Friday I decided to start immediately and continue until the 5th of April where I will catch up with the program everyone else is doing.
So far I have been doing it for 3 days. I walked in stores, did shopping, went to the movies, took my dog out in rain and snow, and I can't wait to see what else will I have to walk in before Tuesday. Friday night I told a friend of mine about the day without shoes when I ran into her a the movies, and I invited her and her boyfriend to do it. Even if she had said no, she can't do it, it wouldn't have hurt as much as it did when she laughed about it and said that if she did it she would be surely be fired from her job. God is my witness I would never want anyone to get fired over this, and honestly I don't think it would happen once they would know why you are doing it. But the laugh in her comment made me think of how ridiculous people can be (and here I'm not talking about my friend, I'm talking about people in general). If someone asks for a monetary donation we usually don't give anything because we say people should work for their own money. If they ask for clothes that you don't wear anymore, in most cases our answer is "well I can't do it right now becouse I'm to busy to look for any," then later you forget completely about the donation, and because it's easier you just end up throwing it in a dumpster. Anyway I know I'm one of those people sometimes. But with this program, I finally feel like no one is asking me for money, no one is asking for a donation, the only thing they are asking me is to go one day without shoes so if people ask why I'm barefoot I can remind them of the children who live in poverty in the world.
No one asked me to do it for 5 days--that was my own choice, and I'm getting out of it much more than I thought I would. This whole experience reminds me of a game a friend mine asked me long time ago to play. I was very depressed and full of self pity, and she told me to put a penny in my shoe and leave it there for several days. Every time I felt the penny, or every time it bothered me, I had to remember something I was grateful for. In other words, I should count my blessings. Every day while I was doing it I felt I was the happiest person on earth. And today I feel the same; every single time I feel a little rock under my sole I murmured a thank you for something. And every day I realize I have more things to be thankful for that otherwise I forgot about.
Yesterday when I walked in the snow, or today when I took my dog for a walk and my feet froze, and it hurt like no other, I was so grateful that I could run into the house and get warm, or that I knew that in five days I could wear shoes again. I'm so blessed!!
How about you, how many times a day do you count your blessings?
1 comments:
I really admmire you for doing this. 1 day I think would be easy for me..depending on the day. But 5? I could see that being hard in my daily routine. But I think I am going to try this in between semesters. Thanks for your wonderful example!
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