I threw away the shoes that always hurt me

Dear Delyara, I had been keeping them because they were “still wearable.” That phrase has done too much damage in my life. Still wearable. Still usable. Still fine if I’m careful. Still manageable if I don’t walk too far, stand too long, live too fully. I’m tired of giving myself the version of life that is technically survivable instead of actually kind. So I threw them away. That felt disproportionally emotional, which tells me it was never really about shoes. It was about the version of me who keeps accepting discomfort as if endurance were more moral than ease. I don’t want to keep worshipping endurance where tenderness would do.