What’s The Best Advice You Received from Your Mother?

About 4 minutes to read

“Angie, wipe the dust off your feet and leave that place!”

This is the best advice my mom ever gave me.

We all hope for wise and loving mothers and I was fortunate to receive one such woman as my life guide.

Lately I have been thinking of how we get stuck. How we attach to people, situations and possessions and cannot seem to move forward. We place so much value and meaning on these things and yet they capture us leading to our self-imprisonment.

I would chat with my mom at least twice a day. Once in the morning as I sat in Johannesburg traffic on the way to work and once in the evening as I tried to get home.

Often when I was complaining about work or a friend or a home situation she would say to me, “Angie, wipe the dust off your feet and leave that place!”

What does this mean? My feet were not dusty. Was she telling me to run away from the situation? What was her meaning?

I have come to realise that this advice applies to every situation I face in life.

What is the dust?

The dust is symbolic of the attachments we accrue in different situations.

It could be our thoughts, how we go around and around in our heads, telling ourselves the same stories or justifications of why we are right or why we are unworthy.

How about the words we speak. That argument you had with your partner or child yesterday that is still bothering you. The gossip you spoke against your colleague that left a bad taste in your mouth.

Perhaps it is a relationship that is not bringing out the best in you. A lifelong friendship which seems to have run its course, or a romantic relationship that has no romance left in it.

Do you have too many possessions that are cluttering your life, making you feel bogged down or keep you fearful of losing everything? This could be your dust.

Sometimes the dust is not always immediately obvious to the naked eye. Think of a surface that appears so clean and gleaming and yet when you run a finger along it, it becomes grey and murky. Or you go to bed and your feet feel uncomfortable, like they have a layer of dirt upon them. They are not filthy yet they are not clean either.

Remember to pay attention and look for the dust that does not seem glaringly obvious. Many times this hard to detect dust causes use the greatest distress and discomfort.

How to wipe the dust off your feet

When you become aware that you are carrying dust, be it unwittingly or willingly there needs to be a process of cleansing.

If it is your thoughts that are your dust, begin a process of thinking differently. In other words change your mind-set. This is not always easy but look at how you are currently thinking and then see if you can think differently about your situation.

Sometimes wiping the dust off our feet requires a symbolic ritual. For e.g. if someone has caused you deep pain and you are still holding onto it ask yourself how you can symbolically let them go. Perhaps you need to perform a small ritual and release them.

What may also work for you is to think of that situation and give yourself a foot bath. As you wash your feet look at that dust you have been carrying and allow it to be washed away.

Leaving that place

Requires choice. Change. Action. The desire to move forward and away.

I have said this before and I will say it again… it all boils down to your choice. You need to choose to leave that place you are in, be it physically, emotionally, spiritually, or financially. You may want to be rescued from the situation, and rescue may be a part of your equation, but first you have to choose.

So whatever your life circumstances that you are wanting to leave today, make a choice and then step in the direction you want to go.

Choosing without stepping will not bring you to your desired destination, so take that first step even if you’re scared. I guarantee you it will be worth it!

Depending on how deep the attachment or how much dust you’ve been carrying you may not be instantly cleansed but do not give up. Continue to make strong choices and work at letting go and moving forward.

Our feet carry us everywhere in life and sometimes we don’t pay them any attention or give them thanks. Take a moment to remember how it feels when your feet are really clean. You have just showered or washed them. You have put cream on and cared for your nails. You walk through your home on carpet or tiles and it feels good, liberating.

This is how it can feel when we let go of the attachments we are carrying. Good, refreshing, liberating.

When I’m holding onto things, and I do this often, I always here my mom’s voice saying “Angie, wipe the dust off your feet and leave that place.” This advice has been the mainstay of my life and has helped me to consistently and constantly grow.