What does "The Hole in the Sidewalk" mean to you?
Asked by
smudges (
11187)
February 24th, 2022
Have you ever faced this situation? What did you do about it?
“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
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6 Answers
My first thought is the urban road maintenance department is really subpar in her town.
On second reading I think she has poor dating skills and falls for any man (or women), and keeps getting burnt.
It’s addiction and recovery.
Addiction or depression.
I’ve heard people use the analogy before.
A variation of being in a hole
I see it as also as referring to habits in general, even things like doing the dishes after a meal or before bed, eating too much sugar, speeding, and on and on. But yeah, I first heard about it in rehab.
Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is crazy.
My first thought was that it was about drug addiction and recovery but I think it is more general than that. It seems to be about patience and determination in dealing with life’s problems and in not giving up. If at first you don’t succeed, try, try and try again. Each time you will have learnt something and each failure is a step towards success.
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