Autobiography

I've been carrying this piece of paper around with me in my handbag for 5 years. It's now tatty and dog-eared but it remains special to me.

Let me share the contents with you if I may......

Autobiography in Five Short Steps
by Portia Nelson

Chapter 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.

Chapter 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.

Chapter 3

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it there.
I still fall in.
It's a habit.
My eyes are wide open,
I know where I am.
It is my fault.
I get out immediately.

Chapter 4

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

Chapter 5

I walk down another street.

I was given this piece of paper (in considerably better condition that it is now) by a friend when I was going through a difficult period of my life. As I was reading it I could see that I had already reached Chapter 3 myself. Reading on to Chapter 4 made me smile and realise that walking around "the hole" was indeed was I needed to do.

But blow me, if there wasn't another chapter that I hadn't even considered as a possibility!

I could choose to not even walk down that street anymore. It sounds so simple now, perhaps, but at the time it was a complete and utter revelation to me.

I could choose to walk down another street....

I did.

And here I am now.

Happier and healthier as a result.

I hope that this little autobiography can help someone else to see that change (big change) is possible, sometimes an absolute necessity, if you are to get on with your life.

Namaste,

Tracy x