Getting Off Your Nail

Stories are really not that different from person to person when it comes to getting off your nail. The analogy that Les Brown referred to in one of his motivational seminars of the dog that laid on a nail day after day moaning and groaning from the pain but he never made the effort to move off the nail is what I want to talk about. This reminds me of the anguish that faces everyone when it’s time to move. I like that story because there are two other elderly people sitting on that porch that ignore the dogs moaning because they know that when it hurts bad enough he will move. This helps me to be patient with myself as well as others when we get stuck with our lives. I argue with the idea of living in the moment because even though that is a good idea we still have to deal with the fact that the choices in the moment come with the consequences that control future choices. So, the moment is tied to the past as well as the future, all in one. Does that mean that in reality there is only the moment? Duality could really be oneness when you get deep into the reality of everything. Of course I realize to some this could be very confusing and questionable. However, questions are what I have had all my life and possibilities are what have kept me going. Possibilities are the mystic unraveling of God’s promises to the trusting ones. I listen to others as they share their current stories with me and I reflect on how at different times in my life their story is not all that different from mine. One strives to be the best they can be and then they try to share their life with someone. I say try because we never realize what we are getting ourselves into until after we have jumped off that safe ledge. We only know ourselves when we finally choose, “to go for it” and when we can accept that we will probably need some “Divine Intervention” lots of times in a relationship with someone else. That is the icing that makes the choice sweeter. Knowing that we all have something to work on in our lives is very humbling. There are also some things I believe are more tolerable than others. It is important to look at character traits that complement one another when considering such closeness as sharing ones personal space. I have learned that the older one gets it is very important to consider what is acceptable in sharing ones space because we start seeing life and priorities a lot different. It is one of those things that come from different stages of your life. To understand those stages before you get there is impossible because it is part of the process in “coming home”, to your real self. It’s just like that dog lying on the nail. He’s just content with laying on that nail moaning and groaning because he hasn’t gotten the nerve or motivation to do anything different.

In my experience, people will try on new and different things for size with motivation but unless there is great passion, desire and intentional personal ambition with purpose it will just hang on them like a cloak. When it no longer has real appeal anymore it can easily be cast aside and the original clothing that is more comfortable will be returned to. It’s only when “enough is enough” has been reached in ones life that real permanent changes will take hold. Everybody’s pain threshold is different but I do know that the longer one lies on their nail the more tolerable the pain becomes. What does your nail feel like? Is it time to get up off it? Only you know for sure. In the meantime, think about what you want your threshold to be.