Wednesday, January 21, 2015

An Autobiography in Five Short Paragraphs

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

Chapter II
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 this same place.
But it isn't my fault.
It still takes a long time to get out.

 Chapter III
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... but,
my eyes are open.
I know where I am.
It is my fault.
I get out immediately.

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

Chapter V
I walk down another street.

- Portia Nelson

One of my graduate professors gave this to us on our first day in his class. I now give it to my students and clients. Life would be much easier if we could just skip chapters 2-4. But, I've learned that getting to chapter five looks different for everyone and sometimes it's those middle chapters that teach us the most.

4 comments:

Wa Wa Waughs said...

Wow. I like this.

Mark Brewer said...

I like this. Thanks for sharing.

Michelle said...

I just sent this to Jeremy because it is so applicable to so many situations....great share!

Beth Brewer said...

Great for my students! Thanks.