Is there a hole in your sidewalk?

There is a story that I feel is a metaphor for how we, as humans, typically deal with challenges in our lives. At least, it seems this is the way I have faced them thus far in my life. Being a former dancer, I see it as a series of dance steps.

You may know the story and if I don’t explain it as you remember it, please bear with me. It has my own twist with a bit of embellishment. It goes like this…

1…Late for her Monday morning meeting, a woman was mindlessly talking on her cell phone and checking her watch. As she walked down the sidewalk to the building where her office was, she fell into the hole. How did she not see it?…

2…The next Monday morning, she was rushing down the sidewalk, again on her cell phone and checking her watch for the time. This time, she saw the hole, but just as she approached it, she tripped and fell into it. What caused her to lose her footing?…

3…The next Monday morning, as she approached the hole, she put her phone away. She checked her watch to see that she was on time for her meeting. Walking around the hole, she continued her trek to the office. Looking ahead at the building she would be entering, her shoulders drooped and she sighed deeply. What made her heart heavy?

4…The next Monday morning, she decided to quit her job. No more phone calls. No more checking her watch. She took a longer route to her office, stopping by the corner bakery for a cup of tea and an almond croissant. Later that day, she exited the building carrying all her belongings. She looked in the direction of the hole and smiled. What made her smile?

5…The next Monday morning, she took a walk in the city park. Birds were chirping. The sun was shining brightly overhead. Children were playing, with their moms looking on. Joggers passed her by as she strolled along the sidewalk. An image filled her mind momentarily – the hole in the sidewalk – but then it faded, no longer part of her vision.

After I finished writing this, I did some research to find out the source of this story, and I found it – Portia Nelson’s book There’s a Hole in My Sidewalk: The Romance of Self Discovery. I bought the book and can’t wait to read it! Have you read it?

Are you in the intimate embrace of self discovery? Where are you in this dance?

1…Are you living a frenetic life, possibly unaware of how it may be affecting you or denying that it IS having an impact on you? Kind of like a hamster on a treadmill, mindlessly getting nowhere?

2…Are you living a frenetic life, knowing what it’s doing to you, but feeling that you have no other choice. You feel off kilter because you know you’re spinning your wheels.

3…Or do you realize in your heart that what you’re doing just isn’t what you want to do with your life, and you know you need to find another way, another path?

4…Or perhaps you have already begun to make a change. How exciting it must feel to be able to let go of something that just doesn’t serve you anymore, that just doesn’t have any meaning in your life anymore. This is where I am now, having “moved from my head to my heart”, so to speak, surrendering to my heart’s desire. Living consciously instead of in a fog, in the darkness of the hole.

What I aspire to is the last step of the dance…

5…Where the hole is a part of the past. It has served its purpose and is no longer on one’s radar. No longer does one live unconsciously, anesthetized to the goings-on of one’s life. It’s time for change, a metamorphosis…like the butterfly in its chrysalis.

So, I ask you again… where are you in this dance? Are you romancing yourself down the self discovery path?

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ERICA TUCCI had a full life as a corporate manager of a Fortune 500 company, a healing arts business owner and an author. It all came to a screeching halt in June 2011 when she had a stroke. During her recovery, she gained much wisdom about what’s really important in life. Although she was a Reiki master, massage therapist and life coach as well as a corporate cog for many years, she realized that her passion was her books. Her hope now is that the messages of her books will be an inspiration for others, young and old. Visit her websites at www.ericatucci.com, www.sarahsgiftseries.com and www.radiantsurvivor.com.