I’ve been attending group for the past few weeks and this was one of the handouts we got.  It’s about change and I really like it so I thought I’d share it.

 “Autobiography in Five Short Chapters”  Author Unknown

I.  I walk down the street.  There is a deep hole in the sidewalk, I fal in.  I am lost.  I am helpless. It isn’t my fault.

II.  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 takes a long time to get out.

III.  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, but my eyes are open.  I know where I am.  It is my fault.  I get out immeditately

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

V.  I walk down another street.

For me, that deep hole in the sidewalk has been self-injury.  This makes me think about where I’m at in my recovery and I’d like to say that I can see the deep hole and can now choose to walk around it.  Now I just need to make sure there isn’t some other deep hole to take its place since I am now choosing to be SI free.