A Glass Slipper

I am not a very clumsy person. I fall down and spill my food a lot but I don't really break very many things (except for cups...they are just too fragile!). Okay, maybe I’m clumsy. Nonetheless, I've only broken two things in my apartment that were made of glass since I moved in. I am not able to forget that I did. Why? Because I'm still finding glass.

I'm not dirty. I vacuum. Yet somehow, for the second time this fall, I have pulled two shards of glass from my foot. The first experience was rather painful. I cried. A lot. By the second time, I sort of felt like a pro at pulling glass from my bare foot so it went a tad smoother.

It got me to thinking about what would have happened if Cinderella's shoes broke while she was wearing them? Would she still have ended up with Prince Charming? It's awfully hard to dance with glass sticking out of your foot. Would she have been angry at her godmother? I mean, sure, the slippers were given as the best present of her life but there were so many ways that it could have ended, and some of them are not so good. In a lot of ways, she was just lucky.

What I love so much about it though is that she didn't care about those other scenarios. She didn't argue with her godmother about the fact that glass shoes are just never a good idea. She didn’t think about the risk involved. She knew what she wanted and went, enjoying her gift while she could.

I realize she was just a fictional character but I still don’t think that is a bad way to live. Life is not forever. I'm not trying to be depressing, it's just a fact. Life is a gift and there are so many ways that could end. Sometimes, we can't control the bad things that play into our gift. We don’t ask for shoes of death. But we still control other things in life, like our thoughts and outlooks. If we can realize that our life is still a wonderful gift, glass shoes and all, then maybe we can enjoy it while we can.