Listening to all the political posturing after the failure of the Super committee all I could think of was Portia Nelson’s poem, Autobiography in Five Short Chapters. Why do we keep expecting different results from the same old behaviors? Maybe I’m just cranky today but I am so tired of the same old rhetoric – can we just move on to Chapter Five?

And, it’s not just the Super committee that I’m cranky about. I’m cranky that our politicians are arguing about a $2 a week payroll increase. Do you really think $2 a week is going to make a difference – maybe if we got $1,000 all at once but $2 a week? Come on, get real –  put your energy into something that matters.  I’m sick of listening to Holiday spending promotions in the same breath that we criticize people for having too much debt. Do you want us to spend or save? How schizophrenic can we be? Can’t we focus on something else – maybe real change? 

Anyway, enough of my crankiness.  Please, please, please can we just get to Chapter Five?

Autobiography in Five Short Chapters

By Portia Nelson

Chapter 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.

Chapter 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.

Chapter 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.

Chapter IV

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

Chapter V

I walk down another street.

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