Finding a New Street
“I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I fall in.
I am lost… I am helpless.
It isn’t my fault.
It takes forever to find a way out.
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend I don’t see it.
I fall in again.
I can’t believe I am in the same place.
But, it isn’t my fault.
It still takes me a long time to get out.
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it there.
I still fall in. It’s a habit.
My eyes are open.
I know where I am.
It is my fault. I get out immediately.
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.
I walk down another street.”
-Portia Nelson
Sometimes we get into a rut, we feel stuck. We don’t realize how we keep making the same mistakes or getting into the same situations. This is a time in which we need to bring our awareness to our actions and our thoughts leading to these actions. We do what we know, and until we make an effort to know something different, we will likely continue to get the same result. We can fight and struggle with the world, most often with ourselves, or we can do something different. We can find a new way and walk down another street.
