Putting Your Best Foot Forward

The expression “put your best foot forward” always seemed a little odd to me, considering we don’t have more than two feet. But I think we all understand the meaning: to jump into any endeavor with enthusiasm and positive mental attitude.

And a person in the news who is doing exactly that is not only someone you have never heard of, it’s someone who doesn’t really have a best foot to give.

You see, Wang Fang is a waitress in China who was born with her feet facing the wrong way. Imagine looking down at your toes and not seeing them because they were BEHIND you!

Since birth, doctors worried that she would not be able to walk.

Now she is 27 and not willing to do what so many of us would have done long ago in her situation–feel sorry for herself.

Not only does she not fret about her physical disability, she is not even willing to label herself as disabled.

Good for her. She can actually walk as well as others. And according to her family, she can outrun most of them!

So let’s get this straight…a woman is born with a physical deformity, learns to deal with this adversity, and ends up turning it into something positive and inspiring!

How many of US would turn away a disability check when the state says we are entitled to one? How many of us don’t wake up EVERY DAY feeling down and out about the silliest of things.

“Oh, no! My lipstick broke!”

“Oh, no! My car broke down!”

“Oh, no! I’m not rich enough, good looking enough, smart enough, or special enough to get what I want in life!”

Call the Whambulance, please.

Next time you stub your toe or flunk a test or think there are so many things keeping you from what you want, remember the story of Wang Fang.

And remember that your feet can physically get you places, but it’s your heart and soul that do the steering.