Autobiography in Five Short Chapters
I.
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.
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 am in the same place. But it isn’t my fault. It still 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 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.
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.
-Autobiography in Five Short Chapters by Portia Nelson
The Process 
That is really cool. Thanks for posting.
I got this in a post from a massage list serve I am on. A yoga instructor sent it in. I just thought it was alas, too true of a portrait of my life to date.
too true…
Ah yes, I remember seeing this once upon a time, long ago, and finding it amusing…while at the same time living through chapters 1-3, and somehow STILL not getting it.
Now looking again, I feel that I somehow have transitioned from chapter 4 into chapter 5 and beyond without consciously acknowledging thus.
I’m finding the chapters that come after to be quite a bit more enjoyable “read”. Especially since, with LOTS of practice, even when the next street is similar to the one before, sometimes with familiarity you can skip chapters 1-2, and sometimes even 3.
my therepist has this on her wall.
This is one of my all-time favorites, first introduced by my therapist many years ago. I’m so glad you gave Portia Nelson credit for it. I was looking for a copy awhile back and found it all over the place unattributed, so I embarked on a personal campaign to email the webmaster with the correct attribution and a gentle admonition about sloppy regard for copyright laws every time I find it posted to a web site.
Ahhh, I love that… thanks for sharing it!