By Nancy Oelklaus, Ed. D.

Like most women, I love beautiful shoes—pointy toes, high heels, a splash of glitz or something special. I love all the different textures and colors and styles. Although I don’t own that many shoes—I’m not a shoe-aholic—I do choose carefully what I buy, and I spare no expense. For years, what I’ve been buying is a rare combination—style AND comfort.

So it was with confidence that I packed my newest stylish-and-comfortable Stuart Weitzman’s for a trip to the Valley to visit a school district as part of my volunteer work with the H-E-B Excellence in Education Awards program. The work requires lots of walking in large school districts—huge high schools with lots of stairs, climbing in and out of buses and vans—two full hours of walking and standing, with no break. A grueling challenge for any pair of shoes.

The Stuart Weitzman’s didn’t pass the test. By the end of the day, I couldn’t wait to get out of those shoes. For the first time, I noticed that the pain in my feet contributed greatly to my fatigue.

This year the trips for this project are packed close together—next week I’ll make three school visits. I knew I had to make a change. So for the trip following the Stuart Weitzman’s fiasco, I made a different decision. I chose my Saturday Shoes—fat, rounded toe with a flat, open heel—purchased from my local Comfortable Shoe Store and worn with socks. (By the way, these shoes cost more than the Stuart Weitzman’s.)

Ah, the difference! Wearing the flat, fat shoes limits my wardrobe to black slacks. I don’t care. Wearing these shoes risks the judgment of other people that I’ve arrived at a “certain age.” I don’t care.

Most importantly, wearing these shoes means that, at the end of the day, I’m not exhausted. It’s a gift I’m giving myself. So what has this to do with courage?

The word “courage” comes from the French word for heart—coeur. This is a decision from my heart, out of love for myself. And there’s an added value. Since I’m at greater ease, I have more energy to enjoy my colleagues. I look with greater favor on what I saw in the school district, which works to their advantage. At the end of the day, I greet my husband with a smile instead of a groan. Everybody wins.

And that’s how it works when we make a decision from our hearts to do what feels good to us. Someone once said, “We do what’s best for others when we do what’s best for ourselves.” So I ask you to reflect: What one small thing might you do for yourself as an act of love? I support you to have the courage to do it today.