After the wedding reception, checking shoes to see if our names are erased!

Comedy Around The World, Istanbul, Turkey.  Before my friend's wedding, all of the single women wrote their names on the bottom of the bride's shoe.  If our name was gone by the end of the evening, we were to be married, too. 

I thought about how strange this custom seemed to me.  Shoes aren't to be placed on a table.  I think that's a custom in some country.  If you go to some people's homes, they make you take off your shoes.  (I'm not like that; if you come to my house, I just make you take off your glasses.)  But in this culture, shoes are a fun way to promote a wedding tradition. 

How many times do we think only one way about a certain object, person, or way of life?  

I was reminded of this phenomenon as I was flying over the ocean, and nearing Istanbul.  I looked out the window to see dark patches in the water.  I had always thought that was colorful coral at the bottom of the ocean.  What did I know--I live in Pennsylvania.  But in a split second, I re-focused my eyes:  Hey, that could be the shadow made by the clouds overhead!  It was an exciting epiphany because I had never considered this possibility. 

When our thought patterns are so fixed, we miss these opportunities for surprise and delight.  Being proven wrong had never felt so good!

"Get Your SHINE Together!" and get a new point of view!