Making Progress

Sometimes when we begin the work of self exploration it can feel like we are not moving anywhere fast. It can seem as if the same mistakes and negative patterns keep surfacing to challenge us and scare us into submission. In my humble opinion and personal experience, it is still all progress. No single breath is the same as the last and so with that in mind, it stands to reason that each time something comes up in our lives there is a different flavour to it and therefore a different learning.

I'd like to share a poem that captures this process perfectly.

Autobiography in Five Short Chapters by Portia Nelson

1. 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.

2. 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’m in the same place.

But it isn’t my fault.

It still takes a long time to get out.

3. 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.

4. I walk down the same street.

There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.

I walk around it.

5. I walk down another street.

Copyright (c) 1993, by Portia Nelson from the book There's A Hole in My Sidewalk, Beyond Words Publishing, Hillsboro, Oregon.

Growing as a person and finding our true heart's desire is not always a linear process, and nor should it be. The bumps along the way keep us focussed on what we are aiming for and force us to really look at the path we are walking, in order to understand if this is indeed what we really need.