Everyday Systems

I recently re-read this:

Autobiography in Five Short Chapters

Chapter 1:
I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in thesidewalk.
I fall in.
I am lost---I am helpless. It isn't my fault.
It takes forever to find a way out.

Chapter 2:
I walk down the 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 a long time to get out.

Chapter 3:
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 open. I know where I am. It is my fault.
I get out immediately.

Chapter 4:
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.

Chapter 5:
I walk down another street.

I seem to be hanging out in Chapter 3.

I think at the begnning of 09 I was at Chapter One and at this point I'm at 3. Sometimes I screw up, but I immediately get back on the horse.

I think I might be at Chapter 4, and I'm not at all sure I want to progress to Chapter 5. Actually, I'm not sure that Chapter 5 is realistic. There's always going to be temptation -- it might just be a different temptation on a different street.

I would say Chapter 3, but I'm getting better about moving on after screw ups.

I think I'm somewhere between chapter 2 and 3. I know it's my fault when I fall in the hole, but its taking a long time to get back out of it.

Definitely Chapter 3. Except sometimes I actually jump defiantly into the hole, rather than just waiting to fall in.

I'd say that for about 80-90 percent of the time I'm in Chapter 4 stage.
The other times, I regress to Chapter 3.
Debs x

Jammin' Jan wrote:Definitely Chapter 3. Except sometimes I actually jump defiantly into the hole, rather than just waiting to fall in.

Yeah, that's me.

I love this hole! you can't make me leave it, and I shake my fist at the sky a lot. But I can leap right back out of it.

I like this metaphor quite a bit, because I can see that I'm progressing and eventually I get to walk down another street.

I love this story.

I'm on Chapter 5 - sort of. I keep finding new holes on new streets! Or maybe sometimes I lose track, and fall in one I think I've learned how to avoid.

Everytime I think I've got things under control, I find another hole.

But I have learned to dig out MUCH faster.

Wow, that is a great poem!

BrightAngel, could you please tell us who the author is? What was your source? Please, Please?

Where am I? I'm happy to report I'm mostly in Chapter 4, slip occassionaly to chapter 3, and I can see hints of Chapter 5 up ahead.

I agree, great poem. I read it outloud to an entire room of family visiting.

I would guess I am at four or five. I have been maintaining very easily - don't even desire the goodies that I found myself reaching for every few minutes the first couple of days.

I immediately scour the grocery aisles for healthy items now, it is a treat to buy a fresh whole grain dinner roll to eat with my soup or salad!

Thanks for sharing, lots to think about - that's for sure.

Berry

Kodama wrote:Wow, that is a great poem!
BrightAngel, could you please tell us who the author is? What was your source? Please, Please?

The poem was written by Portia Nelson (now deceased)
and published in her book
"There's a Hole in My Sidewalk: The Romance of Self-Discovery".
I've been familiar with it for some time.
Here is a link to a news article that mentions it.
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/10/us/po ... ormer.html

BA, I am SO grateful to have a reference for this!

I heard this story years ago - a minister used it as the basis for a sermon when I was a teen - and the sense of it stuck with me even though I didn't have the details. When you put up the version you did, it was like meeting an old friend... and how cool that this is the ORIGINAL version!

Thank you so much for posting this!

I love that! Thanks, Brightangel.

I spent most of my adult life in Chapter 2.

I moved into Chapter 3 about five years ago.

And, I'm almost afraid to say it, but I think I may finally be moving into Chapter 4.