Beauty is Pain

A few days ago, I was lying on the couch with my feet propped up.  My boyfriend asked me, "What's wrong with your pinky toe?"  He was referring to the rubbed raw sore spot on the edge of my foot.  I replied, "Nothing...it's from my shoes."  He rolled his eyes, and I just shrugged it off like it was nothing unusual.  The sad thing is that it really isn't unusual for me.  I'm used to suffering pain and discomfort in the name of fashion.

There's a famous saying--"No pain, no gain."  I most definitely have endured my fair share of pain, but the other day, I started wondering if my all my discomfort truly resulted in gain....or was it all simply in vain?  I guess you could say that sacrificing the comfort of a pinky toe for the sake of wearing cute shoes most definitely falls into the category of vain.

Our society has become so vain that we not only forfeit comfort for the sake of beauty, but we even jeopardize our health and well-being.  I'm not even joking when I mention the newest fad in plastic surgery--toe lengthening/shortening and even (gasp) removal!  While I readily admit that the removal of my pinky toe would certainly improve the fit--and comfort--of the majority of the shoes in my closet, I'm not about to go to a plastic surgeon to have it chopped off.  No thank you--I will just continue to squeeze all five piggies into those strappy stilettos, walk slowly and carefully, and grin and bear it.....because every girly-girl knows that beauty IS pain!