Everyone needs it.
Everyone wants it.
Everyone deserves it.
A couple of years ago a little five-year-old kid stood up right in the middle of my show.
He shot right up as if he’d been stung by a bee.
Everyone else was seated on the gym floor, but there he stood.
Like a little human tower right in the middle of a huge crowd of little humans.
He didn’t utter a word. He just stood there, as if silently declaring, “I have something important to say”.
However, he didn’t say anything.
Now, some kids are rude and shout out whatever’s on their minds. Others snicker and secretly whisper to their friend seated next to them.
But this kid did none of that. He just stood there.
So, I paused my magic tricks and turned to him.
All eyes in the room were on him.
I said, “Are you okay?”
He nodded.
I said, “Do you have a question for me?”
He nodded.
I thought to myself, “Well I’m not sure where this is gonna go, but I think I’m up for an adventure.”
So, I invited him to come on stage and ask me his question.
As soon as he got there, he’d forgotten his question… I guess that’s what standing in front of 500 kids will do to a person. So, I bent down to him and whispered, “Do you want to make up a question together?”
He nodded.
We pretended to make up a question together, and then I answered it for the whole audience.
He smiled and nodded. But that wasn’t the best part.
While we were standing there making up a question together, I noticed his shoes were on the wrong feet. Yeah… he’d gotten up this morning, eaten breakfast, brushed his teeth, got dressed, put on his shoes, gone to school, and went to class.
This kid had been walking around all day with the left shoe on his right foot and the right shoe on his left foot.
No one else had seen this. No one else knew this. Only me.
It tickled me so much I said, “Can I take a picture of us together?”
He nodded.
So, I pretended to take a picture of the two of us, but actually, I took a picture of his shoes.
I said, “Was that fun?”
He nodded and went happily back to his seat.
I finished my show. I was amazing. I always am.
But this little fella with the question/non-question stuck with me. I thought about him a lot over the next couple of days and eventually realized that you and I – all of us – are him.
We are this little fella.
We’re all misfits seeking love and recognition.
In one way or another, we are all wearing our shoes on the wrong feet. We know it, but we would still like to be seen and heard, and recognized for our value and our real worth.
And we should be. No matter how backward our shoes are, we deserve love and recognition.
In one way or another, every one of us is getting it all wrong, but we still deserve to be seen and recognized – like that little fella.
As far as I’m concerned, there’s nothing wrong with any of that.
Put your shoes on wrong today?
No sweat: you’re still awesome and you are loved!
Written by Rockin’ Eco Hero – Steve Trash
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