A man walked past a house and saw a little old lady rocking in her chair, a little old man reading the paper as he rocked next to her, and a dog lying on the porch between the two, moaning as if in pains. As he passed, the man pondered silently why the dog was moaning. The next day, the dog was still lying on the same spot still making the moaning sound. On the third day, to the man’s distress, he saw the same scene again and summoned courage to ask the old lady what’s was wrong with the dog. “Oh him? She replied. “ he is lying on a nail. “Confused by her reply, the man asked, “If he is lying on a nail and it hurts, why doesn’t he just get up?” The old woman smiled and said “Well, honey, it hurts just enough for him to moan about it, but not enough for him to move yet. (story by Les Brown)
A pile of traumatic situations we go through in life makes us increase our tone of complaining. But are we ever angry enough to get up and say “That’s it! I’m tired!” Until we get to the point in our lives when we become uncomfortable with our discomfort, we’ll never stop moaning and get off the nail.
The dog in the story reminds us of how we encounter challenges and yet do nothing. The fact we are so comfortable in moaning about our tragic occurrences yet we forget the need to actually get up and move on. We think of how we will move and how we will absorb some amount of energy while getting up and these piles of thoughts make us to be so comfortable with our distress. A simple instance is how we are fun of making our bedrooms untidy, we dissent the place yet we sleep there no matter how uncomfortable we are.
Apart from thinking of how we will actually move, we also drench ourselves in worry thoughts while discussing our problems with people to gain self-pity. Engaging in these activities, simply means we have chosen to lie on the nail while we deplete and drain ourselves in the process. This decision does not give us the solution to our problems, it rather exposes us to more damages that maybe out of our control.
Are you ready to make a move or remain moaning?
It is imperative, you ask yourself some sensitive question in order to use your pain as a yard stick of courage to get up from the nail and start moving. Time does not understand your pain, people don’t really know and might never care how your shoes hurt so don’t expect them to meet up certain needs. You are the only person who feels the weight and there is a need to rise and move on.
Ask yourself these honest questions:
” What can l do to be happy?”
“What steps do l need to take today?”
” What can l do to change the situations around me?”
” What am l afraid of?”
Interrogating yourself helps you define possibilities in hopelessness and ways to accomplish your desired goals in life. The same energy we use to moan and complain can be redirected to taking positive actions.
If you need to move on, write certain goals you need in your life.
Let your goals be visible, stare at it with all amount of optimism … According to Tony Robbins, “Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible”
If you know you don’t want to remain moaning, you need to nourish your thoughts with Pep Talks, tell yourself all those compliments you long to hear from people. Why wait for people to make you feel good when you can endow yourself with lovely words that can heal your soul.
You can use this lovely PEP TALK by Megan Bailey
“Today, I will remember that I am much stronger than I think, braver than I believe and smarter than I think. Despite what life has thrown at me, I will not back down. I will continue to push forward and become a stronger person because of this! I have survived 100 percent of my worst days in life, so I just need to keep going. There is always light at the end of the tunnel. It’s okay to be sad and frustrated, but I will continue to walk through life. I will be strong for those who need me and I will be a superhero for myself. I will not let this break me.
“Today, I will say aloud that I love myself. I truly, absolutely love myself despite any supposed flaws I have deemed myself to have.”
Asking yourself honest questions, the written goals and nourishing your thoughts with pep talks will get you off that nail and make you experience the better parts of your life.
Determine to move on, no matter how mountainous the roadblocks are.
Move on, no matter how often you get the “NOs” and how less you get the “Yeses”
Make a move, no matter how your heartbeat raises.
Get up, no matter how your feelings contradict your vision…
Move and be the better person you always imagined in your mind. Do this, not only for you but also for your generation that will be leaning on your shoulders to find their paths.
Self-pity takes you nowhere, rather self confidence and action is the Real Deal.
GET OFF THAT NAIL AND MOVE
