Patient: Well, those are some interesting-looking shoes.
Dooley: The Vibrams? Yeah, it’s a miracle I’m wearing any shoes at all.
Patient: They’re not exactly attractive.
Dooley: Ma’am, any man worth dating wouldn’t mind them at all.
That’s what I said. But I feel more about it.
I haven’t chosen this career – this life – as a default or a facade. I came to play, and I came to be real.
I’m not going to tell you to wear flatter shoes, then not wear them.
I’m not going to tell you to build fitness into your day, then encourage you to continue wearing your heels to work.
I’m not going to do this work from dawn to dusk, then go home to a man that wouldn’t understand that my career IS my life. I practice what I preach.
This is translucency. I’m committed to my patients, my students and myself to be the change I wish to see.
I’m in this for the long haul, not until I fit into a size 4 – and not until I get the “man of my dreams.”
What bull.
I’m in this to win this. What I win is my personal health, in body and in mind. I’m in this to lead by example.
And I would never choose a partner that couldn’t understand that level of commitment.
So, my Vibrams may be “unattractive.” Fine – judge the shoes.
But when I look in the mirror, I see a woman that lives for what she does. She loves all the way and gives her heart to what she sees fit for it. She is beautiful for those things – no matter what footwear she sports.
Living what you do and being real? There is nothing more appealing to me than that.
– Dr. Kathy Dooley