The Effects Of Friction

I am thrilled to necessitate a new pair of shoes! My trusty old Nikes have finally bitten the dust after over five hundred miles since the beginning of this year. Friction has taken its toll. All the same, they have been good servants, and I am thankful.

Those five hundred miles do not include any of the ones my shoes gathered from the previous few years! Friction, the force between two materials that stops them from sliding past each other, has worn my right sole partially off! The rubber sole is designed to increase the friction between my foot and the road, causing me to get traction and be safer on slippery surfaces. Friction also leads to the shoes wearing out. Newton’s Third Law of motion reminds me that the force of my foot hitting the ground is returned equally from the ground back to my foot. Since forces always come in pairs, running shoes are designed to absorb the normal force of foot to road impact. This design of the shoe helps to protect my knees and ankles. Good shoes also provide stability for my foot. However, friction is still at work.

I ought to have saved my old running shoes for slightly longer before I discarded them. Identical to my last pair, the like-new pair I purchased have caused a blister on the back of my right heel. They have yet to form to the shape of my foot, and friction is working and will continue until they are broken in. Wearing a Band-aid while jogging manages the tender area, making it tolerable. My older shoes had obviously stretched, allowing less coefficient of friction between my heel and the shoe material. With fourteen miles already on my new shoes, they're feeling better these days!

An old Chinese proverb says, “The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials.” The friction that is allowed into our lives causes us to grow if we let it. We can focus on the bad and view ourselves as a victim or choose to rejoice at our opportunity for growth. With my shoes, I am deciding to look at the achievement of miles under them, rather than the old broken-down shoes that were needing replaced. In a similar vein, when hard times inevitably come, I pray that I will see the blessings.

~Rhonda