Waiting for the other shoe to drop

Did you know that this phrase actually started out as a joke?

“A guest who checked into an inn one night was warned to be quiet because the guest in the room next to his was a light sleeper. As he undressed for bed, he dropped one shoe which, sure enough, awakened the other guest. He managed to get the other shoe off in silence, and got into bed. An hour later, he heard a pounding on the wall and a shout: “When are you going to drop the other shoe?” *

In the early 1900’s it meant: “To await an event that is expected to happen, due to being causally linked to another event that has already been observed.”

It is interesting to see how that little “joke” has evolved into a fear based, ego/guilt warning that describes the fear and apprehension we feel when things are going too well in life. Sad, isn’t it? Being afraid of life going too smoothly, filled with blessings, joy and happiness.

Yet isn’t that we all want? Isn’t it what we strive for?

As a practitioner, I hear this expression all the time. Energetically I see how it holds people back from embracing their joy and blocks their success. It can cripple families, relationships, work and personal health. “Waiting for the other shoe to drop,” has become a statement of poverty. Not just in wealth but in happiness, joy, health, peace and harmony. Somewhere along the line we started to buy into the belief that we don’t deserve any form of success. It is the furthest thing from the truth.

I have learned to understand that expression in a more spiritual and metaphysical way. Life flows. There is a ying and yang to life. We are physically surrounded by so many examples such as the change in seasons, phases of the Moon, and the ocean tides, to name a few. Nature is teaching us that there is a time to rise up (Spring) and a time to fall or rest (Winter).

When you begin to look at that phrase, waiting for the other shoe to drop you begin to see the deep spiritual wisdom that it holds. Pause here for a moment and think about the simple act of walking. One foot rises and moves forward then drops down to make space for the other foot to rise up and move forward. We would not be able to walk or move forward if we did not allow the “other shoe to drop.”

This is just one example of what our intuition can teach us. When you listen to your intuition, that deep inner calm wisdom of the soul you realize that the other shoe needs to drop in order to move forward in life. Our egos would have us fearing the forward movement. That keeps us small. Our souls need us to understand life needs to ebb and flow in order to move forward. With that wisdom comes peace of mind and moving with the breath of life. Breathing in and breathing out.

Now, ask yourself, “Do you think you deserve to have a life filled with blessings, joy and happiness?”

Breathe in, raise your foot and let the other foot drop down and step forward. Breathe out.

*Accessed April 28, 2017. http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Waiting%20for%20the%20other%20shoe%20to%20drop.