Truly Successful

A short time before the accident I bought a couple of pairs of identical work boots on a buy one, get one half-off sale. They were actually my second and third pairs of the same boots. I know that it makes me sound a little weird, but I used that particular brand of boots every weekday for the sake of maintenance work at the church property and I really liked them. I was wearing the original pair when I got into the motorcycle accident, and the rescue workers must have cut them off because I never got them back.

I tried to wear a pair of the new ones to work a few times about a year after the accident, but they felt so heavy and cumbersom on my bad leg that I switched to sneakers. I don’t do as much maintenance work at the church anymore, so no biggie, but I remember thinking that I was stuck with these two pairs of new work boots because I would never have any use for them again.

Yeah, that's them.

The boots still feel a bit heavy on my one leg, but I do wear them occasionally. I wear them to the church property sometimes, but I primarily use them at home. A few weeks ago I wore them while doing some landscaping work in my front yard and I totally trashed the boots with muddy dirt so I left them in the garage. Earlier this morning I washed them with a hose in order to store them in my closet again, and I realized that they’ve experienced a bit of the old wear-and-tear over the past few years.

I remember how disheartening it was to feel that I would never be able to wear work boots again because the ability to use my body for the sake of heavier physical work had diminished. I remember feeling that I would have to store the two new pairs of boots, still in their original boxes, somewhere within my house until I was able to sell them in a yard sale at a future time. I remember feeling that my accident injuries had caused a very active part of my life to end forever. It was all a little heartbreaking.

Today, however, my boots served as a symbol. They represent impossibilities that give way to miracles. They represent death that gives way to life. They represent a life that was brought to a standstill but then plunged forward into the future. Those dirty boots are far better looking now to me than they were when I took them out of their box years ago, and I can’t wait to wear them down enough to break out the second pair. Cleaning those boots this morning was a Happy New Year’s gift for me today; a reminder that time has given me the ability to learn the meaning of true success.