“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 a way out.

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 me a long time to get out.

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.

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

I walk down another street.”

― Portia Nelson
 

magine a world that had a unique problem:

Everyone was falling into a hole.

Over-and-over, people kept falling into this hole.

It was misery.

No one had a good solution.

One guy beat himself up for falling into the hole. He assumed that the beating would prevent him from doing it again. That it would teach him! But it didn’t. He kept falling in. He kept getting a beating. And he learned nothing.

Another gal decided to pad herself up so that when she fell into the hole — it wouldn’t hurt as much. But it still did. It was a pretty big drop. She sighed because it was the best she could come up with. So she kept stuffing herself to keep the pain away.

Another guy decided never to walk again. He figured that if he didn’t walk, there was no way to fall into the hole. But in the long run, this didn’t work. He needed to get up eventually. And it was only a matter of time before he fell into the hole like the rest of society did. When he got out, he vowed never to walk around again.

Another decided to toughen her character. So when she fell into the hole, she would pretend like it wasn’t a big deal. She got to be “Super Gal.” And she silently suffered alone. Despite her powerful tumbling act, she was broken and bruised like everyone else.

The methods of compensations, alterations, tactics, strategies, and antics were all the rage in the media.

Experts labeled the problem “Holeaphobia,” “Droppression,” and “ADHD (Awful Dropping in Hole Disorder).”

There were even pills of all sorts created to erase the hole from people’s thoughts (should they be able to afford the high price to have them prescribed!). Dropping into the hole, for these people, was replaced with numbness.

Once upon a time, a very patient gal had this radical idea to sit very still. She began paying attention. She started to look inward. She noticed that as she simply sat, she became aware of some really interesting things.

These insights didn’t stop her from falling into the hole. But she persisted with her reflections.

One day, while she sat still, she made a startling discovery. She became aware that her eyes were closed! They suddenly flicked open for the first time!

With eyes wide open, she remarked, “My goodness! I’ve been falling into this hole because I couldn’t see it!”

And sure enough, she looked around at the world and saw everyone with their eyes closed!

“How simple!” she remarked.

She did a little experiment. She walked up to the edge of the hole, stopped before it, and did not fall in.

The hole was no longer a mystery to her.

She didn’t need to change. She didn’t need to improve herself, (there was nothing wrong with her). She didn’t need a beating. She didn’t need protection. She didn’t need pills. She didn’t need anything to be different.

She was overjoyed!

But, unsatisfied to be the only one with this amazing awareness, she began sharing her discovery with the world.

At first the people thought she was crazy.

Eyes squeezed shut, with heads shaking, they complained, “That’s way too simple.”

But eventually some of them, tired of dropping, decided to sit in patience like she did so they too could see. Something was obviously working for her.

Some kept at it, and learned how to open their eyes like she did. Others gave up and resorted to the latest fads of the day.

Over time, many stopped falling into the hole. And some who had tried but gave up, made a commitment to try again.

They were diligent in their practice.

They saw that opening their eyes revealed the hole problem.

Perhaps they would inspire others to do the same.