Stop ignoring the pebble in your shoe.

There's a pebble in my shoe. It's not painful for now, just a little uncomfortable but not enough for me to be bothered to stop and remove it. The effort of taking off and putting back on my shoe and sock seems too much. So instead I just continue to walk on, noticing the pebble moving about in my shoe, feeling the discomfort move from spot to spot on my foot, wishing it would go away. In my mind, I know that only I can make it stop but I am lacking the energy or willpower to pause my walk and end the nagging rubbing.

The pebble is tiny. In fact to call it a pebble is to overstate it. In reality, it's a speck, a sliver of a pebble, likely no bigger than a grain of sand. And yet this minuscule object is causing me disruption and discomfort. As I continue to walk, although I am surrounded by the great beauty of Mother Nature, I am distracted. This pebble pulls my attention away from the sun and sky, the breeze, the sounds, the smells. I am wishing that it would somehow, and with no effort from me, just disappear or move to another part of my shoe where the discomfort drops to a level that I can tolerate. For I have come to expect and believe that uncomfortableness is a constant companion in life, and to just accept it.

After some more time passes, it's clear that ignoring it is futile. The pebble isn't going anywhere - it is now stubbornly stuck in a most uncomfortable spot of my heel, so much so that it is now starting to rub the skin and form a blister. I can feel the skin starting to become inflamed, the stinging now my new companion. I know it is damaging the soft flesh of my foot and causing me harm; and yet I walk on - now with a limp - still wishing it would just go away. I become angry at the pebble for its stubborn continuance, its dogged determination. I demonise it for its mere presence, seeing it now as a nasty object hell-bent on ruining my nice walk. And all this time, I continue to be distracted with a worsening mood and declining energy. My mind is centred on this tiny grey lump, this innocuous piece of dirt.

It is tiny and I am mighty, and yet I have given over my power to it and it is currently ruling my thoughts, my emotions, my energy.

I started my walk optimistic and with much anticipation, looking forward to moving my body with ease and being present in this time ahead. Instead, I am feeling annoyed, cranky, put-upon, resentful and distracted. My good mindset has been hijacked by a pebble.

And only when I feel the skin is punctured do I finally surrender. When the damage is done and blood has been drawn, when it's past the point of no return only then do I finally decide to take action. Off comes the shoes, off comes the sock, thrown aside with frustration. The pebble is revealed to be so insignificant - a tiny speck - it seems almost incomprehensible that something so tiny could cause so much discomfort and injury. I toss it aside in anger, blaming it for ruining my day. The inanimate tiny speck stares blankly back at me as I hurl insults at it, very quickly becoming indistinguishable from the millions of other specks just like it.

Sock back on, shoe back on. The walk recommences. Now there is a dull ache and a sting where the speck once was. There's a small wound to my body that has been covered up and hidden away with the hope that it will heal up and be gone in a few days, with no lingering reminder remaining. Until the next speck. And then the next one. And then what?

Will I choose to repeat this experience? Will I choose discomfort and distraction? Will I choose frustration and resentment? Will I choose to lay blame outside myself? Will I choose self-recrimination for not stopping and removing it sooner, only to repeat my inaction again? If my past actions are anything to go by, then I am surely to repeat this story again.

That tiny speck is the everyday moments that take you away from being present and living your best life now. Every day you have specks and pebbles that come your way. All too often, instead of taking time at the outset when the speck is first felt and making the choice to pause, rest and then continue on injury free, instead you choose to push on knowing that pain and injury is the almost certain outcome. And yet you choose it. Over and over and over again. Again and again you choose not to be present. Again you choose the pain, the anxiety, the stress, the overwhelm, the illness. You choose to be taken away from living in the now by each of the specks that are sent to test you. Instead of taking action, instead of taking the path of ease and joy, you knowingly choose to ignore and deny, to avoid, to deflect, to pretend, to excuse, to wish the speck away. And although you know already how this story ends, you choose it anyway.

But what if you made a different choice? What if you chose to pause for a moment and remove the speck when you first felt the discomfort? You could return to comfort sooner and go back to being present and happy. You would not be giving away your energy to negativity and blame laying. There would be no blister, no pain, no lingering discomfort.

Imagine how you would feel. Empowered by your action instead of frustrated by your inaction. Imagine being present and the energy and power that comes with. Imagine participating fully in your life and the life of those you love. There would be no trauma for you to heal from, no regret and self-recrimination.

What tiny specks and pebbles are rattling around in your shoes? What tiny objects are you allowing you to hold you back from your happiness, from walking the path of your life with comfort and ease? What are you giving away your power to? What is keeping you from living a life you love?

When will you stop to take out the speck?

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