General Question

smudges's avatar

What does "The Hole in the Sidewalk" mean to you?

Asked by smudges (10707points) February 24th, 2022

Have you ever faced this situation? What did you do about it?

“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.

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 me a long time to get out.

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.

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.
I walk down another street.” ― Portia Nelson

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6 Answers

RedDeerGuy1's avatar

My first thought is the urban road maintenance department is really subpar in her town.

On second reading I think she has poor dating skills and falls for any man (or women), and keeps getting burnt.

Hawaii_Jake's avatar

It’s addiction and recovery.

JLeslie's avatar

Addiction or depression.

I’ve heard people use the analogy before.

A variation of being in a hole

smudges's avatar

I see it as also as referring to habits in general, even things like doing the dishes after a meal or before bed, eating too much sugar, speeding, and on and on. But yeah, I first heard about it in rehab.

janbb's avatar

Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is crazy.

flutherother's avatar

My first thought was that it was about drug addiction and recovery but I think it is more general than that. It seems to be about patience and determination in dealing with life’s problems and in not giving up. If at first you don’t succeed, try, try and try again. Each time you will have learnt something and each failure is a step towards success.

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