Foolish

I was recently in Halifax for a work trip.

It was a week-long trip, so I needed to pack more than an overnight bag.

If you've never been to Halifax, especially downtown Halifax, here are two things you need to know: It's beautiful and it has hills.

I had been to the exact hotel we stayed at once before, and had walked many of the routes we walked before.

When it came to packing for the trip, I wanted to be strategic.

I don't like to overpack, in fact, I take pride in packing the exact amount of things I will use.

I had a choice to make about shoes.

I knew three things:

1. It would very likely rain during the trip.

2. I wanted to exercise (in a gym) during the trip.

3. I was going to do a lot of walking during the trip.

This led me to deciding that I needed two pairs of shoes—one for the gym and one for everything else.

The gym shoe was easy, but let me make a confession about the everything else shoe.

I had recently purchased two very different pairs of shoes.

One was a shoe specifically designed for walking—I like walks. It's not waterproof and it's probably the most comfortable shoe I own.

The other, was waterproof, quite stylish, and easily matches anything I wear. But it wasn't designed for walking.

Given the title of this post, you might have already guessed which shoes I ended up packing.

You may also ask, why didn't you just take three pairs of shoes? Well, it goes against my overpacking philosophy.

***

Why did I end up choosing the stylish pair of waterproof shoes over the comfortable pair of walking shoes?

Well, because they were stylish! I valued style over comfort.

In fact, let me get a little more vulnerable.

I thought that if I wore those comfortable shoes, I would look a little foolish.

Those shoes aren't necessarily stylish. They don't easily match anything I wear.

Here's the thing, when it came to choosing the shoes for this trip, I ended up making the wrong decision.

In my pursuit of not willing to look foolish, I ended up with very sore feet.

***

The willingness to look foolish is a great decision making filter.

If you choose the path that makes you look less foolish, it's worth considering whether you're overvaluing other people's opinions.

Just remember, they're not the ones who have to walk in your shoes.

Choose wisely.