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 helpless.
It isn't my fault.
It takes forever to find my 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.
I read this poem a few months ago and it spoke to me. I recently found it as I was rummaging through my things and I couldn't not share it. It sums up so many aspects of my life thus far. I am finally walking down another street. In self-awareness. And it feels wonderful. I hope we can all get to a place where we can bravely walk down another street. As long as we have breath in us and hope for tomorrow... it is never too late.
Smooches,
This is absolutely profound.
ReplyDeleteI'm happy for you because self-awareness is the biggest (and often hardest) step to take!
Lord knows I've pretended not to see that hole and fallen right back down it! Today though, I feel like I not only avoid the street, I paid a team of talented street pavers to fix the hole :)
What a beautiful poem!!!
ReplyDelete~Jess
Love it! Lord knows I have fallen in a couple of holes in my lifetime before I finally learned to walk down another street! So glad you have found another street too...like you said "it is never too late!"
ReplyDeleteGreat poem. We all have to fall down the same holes a few times before it dawns on us to try something different.
ReplyDeleteLove it! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteWow I needed to hear that today thank you for sharing it lets me know that I can do whatever I put my mind to it is never to late.
ReplyDelete@PandaBear: YES! You certainly can do whatever you put your mind to. Work it!!!
ReplyDeleteSeep! This reminds of of that saying, if we continue to do the same thing we can expect the same result.
ReplyDelete@Teresha: Girl... you aint never lied! Amen to that!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful poem!! I think it is so true. Sometimes it gets a while to get there, but self awareness is a wonderful thing :). Thank you for sharing! Have a fabulous weekend and I'll see you on Monday! xx
ReplyDelete@Sarah: i can't wait!
ReplyDeleteWhat a neat autobiography and I'm sure it speaks to us all in some way.
ReplyDeleteCompelled to live life with more awareness each time I read this poem. It was just what the doctor order as I've been reevaluating some things in my world. I know what I gotta do, I plan to do it and I'm feeling stronger with each tear 9and they aren't always tears of sadness). Can I have your permission to share with my readers?
ReplyDelete@Kerissa: Of COURSE!!! Copy and paste away!
ReplyDeleteI mean, how can you not feet connected to this poem. It's a powerful poem I first read years ago and it's still so relevant. I initially tried to figure out which stage in my life I was at, then stopped trying, realizing that I have decided to walk on a different street. Thanks for sharing, powerful stuff
ReplyDelete