In others' flip-flops

As much as I want this blog to talk less about myself, I’ve stringed a couple of entries which so reek of indulgence. And so here I write one more. Haha.

We had our usual bi-monthly Fazoli’s Eastwood lunch last Sunday. Mom, Zen, my brother, Jimbo, my cousin, and I had pizza and pasta at what seems to becoming a favorite Eastwood spot among the Alcantara clan. After finishing my third slice of pizza, I felt something pop between my big and second toes.

Initially, I thought it was just the foot of either of the youngins hitting my left foot. But I was wrong. The thong (yes, that’s what the Apple dictionary calls it) of my left flip-flops snapped! I was in immediate panic because I didn’t know how I’d be able to roam around Eastwood. I thought I’d be stuck at the second floor of Fazoli’s for quite the whole afternoon. Memories of me walking along the road, holding my left muddied flip-flops in my left hand, semi-barefoot and muddied at the Ateneo bonfire two years ago flooded in. Another flip-flop emergency seemed well on its way.

Of course, after a few seconds of panic and exaggeration, common sense came in to save the day. Whilst borrowing Zen’s flip-flops, we went to the mall and bought a new pair from Bench. I settled for the pair from Bench because 1) it’s just temporary and 2) though I consider flip-flops as my luxury item, I still have numerous barely used ones at home.

Dear reader, what would you have felt or done if you were the one whose left flip-flop thong got snapped? In short, what would you have felt or done if you were in my shoes? Or if you were in my flip-flops would be more appropriate I suppose.

Most would probably answer such question quickly while others would probably think about it even more. However, the more important question would probably be: Are you capable of listening to and understanding others’ feelings? Could you empathize with other people?

I ended my nerdy/beautiful entry not only by celebrating everyone’s beauty but also asking everyone to appreciate each other’s beauty as well. Here, I go beyond such statement by encouraging everyone to become aware of their ability to put themselves in other people’s shoes, understand and even share how they feel. It might seem difficult at first since it requires us to view in another person’s perspective. Perhaps even a perspective that contradicts our very own.

However, just even understanding how other people feel would help us have a better idea of how to support and understand them especially through conflicted times. Understanding how they feel helps us understand how to deal with them best. Creating mutual resolutions seems a lot easier when you understand where the other party is coming from.

Sharing their feelings also provides us a glimpse of how similar we are with them. Discovering similar sentiments and experiences helps us form deeper bonds with other people. In a way, it helps us connect with each other through feelings that are common to all human beings, of which we all are part. And through these bonds, we have a better idea of dealing with not only with the person you’ve empathized with but also with other people who may share the same feelings. Hopefully, it somehow becomes easier with experience.

Appreciate other people. Listen to and share how they think and feel. Put yourself in their shoes (or flip-flops) and take a step towards make the world a much more caring and understanding place.