Dwarfing Walls

Don’t spend time beating on a wall, hoping to transform it into a door. - Dr. Laura SchlessingernnI have an admission to make. Quite often I know exactly what I am going to write about and then something happens during the week that throws me off at a complete tangent. nnIn the beginning, the divergence may seem somewhat insignificant and then the penny drops, the message appears and I am compelled to write about it. And this article is one such example. nnI went to visit my parents a few days ago and on route to their home I came across an accident. There was only one vehicle involved - a car - which had crashed through a brick wall. The mangled car hadn’t quite made it completely through the wall and looked isolated in its predicament: like someone who pokes their head through a back yard hedge, unsure about what lies on the other side. nnWalls have a nasty habit of being obstinately difficult to go through! And unrelenting walls can be solid or imaginary. How many times have you hit a wall? nnA wall of despair? A wall of indecision? A wall of worry? Or perhaps even a wonder wall? Are you hitting a wall right now or just careering towards one? How do you negotiate the wall? Over it? Around it? Through it? nnI read of Aron Ralston, a solo climber from Colorado, who amputated his own arm with a penknife to free himself after becoming trapped beneath a boulder for five days in a remote canyon in Utah. In wanting to survive he had no other option. nnCan you imagine the pain endured in amputating your own arm with a penknife? And after that ordeal he then had to fix a rope and abseil 60 feet to the floor of the canyon before hiking some distance to encounter other hikers who raised the alarm. nnThat was a man on a mountain facing a wall and going through it. Thankfully he has now recovered and in his first interview he recalled, “I’m not sure how I handled it. I felt pain, I coped with it and I moved on.” nnIf you are hitting a wall right now, be mindful of the fact that you may not need to go through it. Perhaps there is another way to negotiate your wall. And if you must go through it, you don’t need to go it solo. nnAn insurmountable problem can be dwarfed when you have someone who can support you as you reach out. So, if you’re standing at the foot of a wall today and you need a leg up, give me a call and I’ll help you to reach the other side. nnAs with these articles, sometimes the way ahead is to go off at a complete tangent. That way you must avoid a collision course. Look after yourself and take care not to go off at a complete tangent. That way you may just avoid a collision course. n nLook after yourself and take care not to bounce your head off a brick wall.