Thoughts from Seeing a Pair of Shoes

The call came in the early afternoon. As a pastor of a church, I received many such calls, "Pastor, John has had a heart attack at work. They're taking him to the emergency room, can you meet us there?" That day the outcome was not good. John died after some rather heroic efforts to revive him. I was with the family when the doctor entered and somberly shared the negative news.

We prayed together, and I escorted the grieving wife and family down the hall and to their cars. Going down the long hall we passed the open door to the treatment room where John's body still lay on the gurney. I couldn't help but take a quick glance at him, and I noticed his shoes still on his feet. For some reason I have never been able to shake off the picture of John's shoes protruding out from under the sheet that covered his body.

When I remember that picture, a few questions come to my mind that I believe we can ask ourselves as we seek to live our lives at a level of significance:

1. Where had John walked in those shoes? I know he walked quite a bit in them because the heels were in need of replacing and there was a hole worn in the sole of one of them. Where had he been in those shoes? I have read that our lives are the sum of the people we have met, the places we have been, and the books we have read. What significant professional and personal relationships have you established and cultivated this past year? What significant places have you visited and experienced? What books have impacted your thinking and living? As you walk through your life, walk with a high degree of intentionality.
2. Where had those shoes been that morning? Was John busy pursuing his significant goals and life objectives, or was he just trying to get through another work day? I want to believe that he had made some significant progress that morning toward a meaningful goal, that his final day was another step toward fulfilling his life's purposes. Today is important. What are you doing today to move closer to achieving your life objectives? Yet, remember that your success is not determined just by what you do today. Your success is determined by what you do everyday.
3. Where was John planning to go in those shoes in the days ahead? If you live through this day and see another day, week, month, year, or even decades, what will energize you to live each of those days with a sense of purpose and accomplishment?

As a coach, I desire to help my clients discover an overwhelming "why" for their work. I then help them develop a strategy that enables them to pursue that overwhelming "why". My prayer and hope for you is that your "why" is so significant and compelling that if you knew you only had one more day of life left, you would commit those precious hours to fulfilling your "why".