Every year we look at the last 12 months and decide that NEXT year, things will be different.
We will be thinner
We will be fitter
Our career direction will change for the better
We will be loved
We will love
And yet, by the end of that ‘different year’ our bathroom scales, blood pressure, bank account, Saturday nights and self-esteem tell us we have failed.
Maybe we need to look at our lives differently ? Maybe we need to look at what we actually do every day ……. and do something different. Maybe we should consider what Portia Nelson has to say:
Autobiography In Five Short Chapters – by Portia Nelson
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.
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’m 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.
From: Sogyal Rinpoche, The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying
Happy New Year !
