4.03.2013

GLITTER IS GREAT, BUT FAILURE CAN BE OKAY TOO.

Although I am a strong advocate of glitter, gold, and all things glam, I also recognize that not every moment is filled with beauty.  Sometimes in order to reach beauty we have to work through the ugly things, the embarrassing things, and face the not-so-graceful moments of life.

Take these shoes for example.  What do you see?  Four-inches of fabulousness?  That's what I thought when I first laid my eyes on them.  If I were Dorothy, my Kansas would be California and these gold glittery heels would be my ruby slippers.  And they were such a great deal, I knew I'd be crazy not to buy them.  At least that was the logic I worked out in my head for when I'd show them to my husband :)

My thoughts changed though when I wore them out to dinner to celebrate his birthday.  As we headed back to our car after a lovely night of fondue (yum!), we began descending a grimy concrete stairwell that would lead us to the underground parking lot where we parked the car.  In a split-second decision that I lived to regret, I thought, I should probably hold the railing to brace myself, but foolishly my germaphobe self recoiled my hand, deciding otherwise.  As I reached the last 6 steps I felt my ankle give way and in the most inelegant way possible I fell forward down the rest of the stairs. In a dress. Into a puddle. A dirty, little puddle.

I was humiliated, embarrassed, confused, disheveled and in pain.  I didn't break anything, thankfully.  No one but my husband saw my tumble, thankfully. But my feelings were definitely bruised.  And my ankle was sore for weeks.  But I was humbled too, realizing that I have limitations and that I needed to slow down sometimes.  And that I need to reach for help.

Lately, I've been trying to figure out some stuff related to this blog and have run in to some, ahem, technical difficulties.  And have made some mistakes that have left me pretty stinkin' frustrated.  But I realized last night that sometimes stumbling can be a good thing.  It shakes things up, forcing me to pause, reassess my direction, and make sure that I've got my priorities in their proper place.  To grow in patience.  To question myself about what really matters.  For example, should a blog really be causing me to be that angry?  No.  I have so many things to be grateful for and joyful about, I'd be crazy to let myself sit and stew over this.  The glitter and gold will eventually come, but for now I need to be okay with the ugly. The messed-up stuff. The failures.

You may be wondering, did falling down the stairs keep me from wearing heels again? No way!  These shoes are still utterly fabulous in my book! But next time I am for sure taking my time, being patient, and never being to proud to reach out for help.



16 comments:

  1. Haha!! I can totally relate. And these shoes are FAB!

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  2. This is a FLAWLESS Blog post lady.... only wish I could see the "after" photo of the fall! haha those moments are when we are at our FINEST and i LOVE your thoughts here :) LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!!

    XOXO Fellow GOlivegirl #Oct2012Golive

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    1. Hahaha, those photos would be confidential! Thanks for the love Tonie! xoxo

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  3. Been there, done that!! I just relived that moment reading this, great job!

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  4. Wonderful post! Sometimes failure can definitely be a good thing. Hope your ankle is healed up!

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  5. This is great! I'm glad you didn't hurt yourself! And girl, next time bring some germ-x and grab onto that hand rail! :)

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  6. Oh how I have been there! Great post!

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  7. Oh goodness, this is why I can not wear heels - not even for an hour. I am a flats girl all around and that is my reality. I liked the thoughts around it thought, growing pains are good.

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  8. Love the shoes AND this post - we've all been there!

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  9. Love your openess and I'm so glad you are wearing the heels still..."get back on the horse" =)

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  10. If I wear heels I would be taller then Louie! Glad you are still rocking 'em! :)
    -Zoraya

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  11. Love to hear that you turned something bad into something positive. I on the other hand would have just went home and cried for days!!!

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  12. Excellent post! Love your epiphany!

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  13. Lovely shoes! They look like they are well worth the pain....but glad that you are not giving up on them...LOL

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  14. i love this post, yasmin! i am the worst critics in many ways and i needed time to forgive myself for failures. i will remember to take my time, be patient and not too proud to ask for help. thanks for the reminder!

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  15. Uh yep, that's me. I don't take time to breathe sometimes. What a great (sorry, you fell) story though..

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