I was tying my boots up this morning like I usually do and I noticed that once again, there was one section of the lace that was wearing significantly and was ready to break. This is frustrating to me because they always wear out in one place… on one lace… and then I have to throw them both out.
I would go through a pair of bootlaces about every 3 months. So I got frustrated and specifically went on Amazon and ordered these high-tech boot laces (made of something like Kevlar or something ) and they were supposed to be extremely strong and last much longer than any others…well not so much…
I started thinking…are these laces trying to tell me something?
I’ve got identical laces that are 54″ long. Each lace is threaded through similar holes and is subjected to similar stresses, yet only one spot on one lace has routinely experienced significant wear.
I see this frayed spot on the lace every time I put on my boots. And each time, I silently ask it to hold on…one more day… The funny thing about frayed laces is this. Once you get them laced up…the frayed area of the lace gets hidden! To the outside world…nobody can tell that I’m just a few strands away from a “boot blowout.”
Is this like my life?
Could I have one area in my life that is wearing significantly despite the health of everything else? Are my boot laces trying to alert me to the fact that I need to do some personal assessments to check the relative health of all the different aspects of myself?
I think so. I think it is also true of most of us…we don’t have to dig too deep into our self-analysis to find an area of our lives that need some attention and repair. Left untreated…we all just maybe a few strands away from a blowout…
As my favorite pastor, Andy Stanley says, “Pay attention to the tension.”