Today I would like to relate a story, I got permission to tell, originally told by our facilitator at group last week. This was a true story from his past. For anonymity, I will refer to this brother as Phil.
Phil was on vacation with his family in Mexico at a beach house. One night, one of his younger granddaughters, about four years of age, asked that he and she go down together to the beach to play in some of the sea foam before the sun set. He was glad that she wanted to spend this time with him and gladly walked her down to the beach.
Much of the water had already receded, exposing the sharp rocks and corral. As they approached the rocks, he saw how there were just too many to approach the receded shore safely. Seeing as they did not bring their shoes with them, he told her, "I don't think we can get across. There are too many sharp rocks."
The little girl looked at him then let go of his hand. She said, "Come on, Grandpa, we just have to find the right path!" She then careful, and gently pressed down with her foot to find the solid sand patches between the sharp edges of the rocks. After a short while, she arrived at the other end of the rocks. She turned around and called to her grandfather, "See, Grandpa? It's easy!"
Phil almost cried as he instantly recognized the life lessons this young child was teaching him. She would not understand then what impact her innocent statement made on him. Slowly, he followed her tiny footprints which were clearly visible in the sand. Sometimes he stepped near them, sometimes he stepped directly on top of them just to make sure he could find the safe way through where he joined her at the other side.
This story hit me similar to the way it him when it happened to him. I can just imagine others calling me, telling me "We just have to find the right path. Come on! It's easy!" The sharp rocks of life stand ominously in front of us all. We just have to slow down, look for the prints already made in the sand, and carefully, place our own feet in the path which has been laid out before us!
1 comment:
Something that was striking to me in the story is that Phil learned that he couldn't trust his eyes--they told him it couldn't be done. In addiction recovery, we also need to ignore those feelings that say "this can't be done. Don't even try." I like the imagery of cautiously but fearlessly feeling our way forward through sharp rocks. Thanks for sharing.
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