What do you do when shoes hurt your feet?

It happens to all of us. We spend all day, or longer, shopping for the perfect pair of shoes. We look at hundreds of them and try on ten or twenty. We are looking for style, versatility, fit, wear, cost, among other things. It is serious business. Some of us even go onto websites, like Nike, and design custom shoes to meet our own style. Some of us look for bargains, we want that perfect out-of-season shoe at the best price possible. Conversely, some of us shop at second hand stores where we can get ten used shoes for the price of one new retail shoe.

No matter where we buy the shoes, we are always disappointed when the shoes does not perform to our expectation. Sometimes the shoes pinch the toe(s). Other times, they rub the heal to form a blister. Or, place too much pressure on the ball of the foot. Some straps cut into our skin with each step. Some don't support our arches enough to be comfortable. Or worst, some shoes just fall apart in public, just when we need them the most. They just break! They break at the seams or the heals pop off. The buckles snaps or the string rips. And there you are, limping out of sight instead of strutting your stuff. Sometimes, we only get a few good wears before the shoe is totally useless. Indeed, when shoes don't live up to their reputation, we are just too frustrated.

The same is true of relationships. In our excitement, we tell all our family friends about the person in our life. We parade him at all our events with family and friends. We make promises to each other and we image a life together forever. Then, when the honeymoon ends, we realize that in our haste we selected the wrong guy. We try hold on to see if things will get better. We make excuses for their short comings. Nonetheless, in the end we have to share the bad news with our family and friends because the relationship did not live up to our expectations. Again, we are so frustrated.

We ask ourselves why we did not see the signs, or why we chose to ignore the early warnings that the relationship was unhealthy. We try to capture lessons learned. Or, we just move on to the next guy. But, I am sure that has never happened to any of my readers. Has it?