Autobiography in Five Chapters
l
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 me forever to find a way out.
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 the same place but, it isn't my fault.
It still takes a long time to get out.
III
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it is 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.
IV
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.
V
I walk down another street.
- Portia Nelson
How much of life is spent in that hole, falling into it, blaming others for it, owning our own responsibility for it, but still falling into it, or walking around it? Why don't we walk down another street, I wonder? Perhaps in our last few days on earth, we will turn that corner. Can we get there before then? How would the quality of our lives be changed if we could? It is a street without street signs, it seems, not on MapQuest or Google Earth, one we can only find from the inside out.
We know things, I believe, only by knowing their opposite. I know autumn by knowing spring, I know love by knowing hate, health by knowing illness, peace by knowing anxiety, regular by knowing decaf. And I know life only by knowing death.
Death ends a life, not a relationship.
It takes us down another street.
Sorry, for the morbidness of this post but i felt i need to get this out! Besides, i really do love the poem and wanted to share!
l
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 me forever to find a way out.
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 the same place but, it isn't my fault.
It still takes a long time to get out.
III
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it is 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.
IV
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.
V
I walk down another street.
- Portia Nelson
How much of life is spent in that hole, falling into it, blaming others for it, owning our own responsibility for it, but still falling into it, or walking around it? Why don't we walk down another street, I wonder? Perhaps in our last few days on earth, we will turn that corner. Can we get there before then? How would the quality of our lives be changed if we could? It is a street without street signs, it seems, not on MapQuest or Google Earth, one we can only find from the inside out.
We know things, I believe, only by knowing their opposite. I know autumn by knowing spring, I know love by knowing hate, health by knowing illness, peace by knowing anxiety, regular by knowing decaf. And I know life only by knowing death.
Death ends a life, not a relationship.
It takes us down another street.
Sorry, for the morbidness of this post but i felt i need to get this out! Besides, i really do love the poem and wanted to share!
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