Digging A Way Out

Stones on a Rocky Ocean Beach

There’s a man who has been by himself in a prison cell with a dirt floor, crude stone walls, and there’s two windows one of which looks out towards the ocean. All of the sudden, he hears a scratching noise, and he looks down at the ground that is furthest away from the window facing the ocean. He sees the ground moving, and he starts to think he’s losing his mind. But soon the ground breaks, and up pops a head with long hair and a beard… it’s a prisoner.

And the prisoner says “Sssh. Listen. A group of us have been tunneling for about six years, and we’ve finally reached your cell. We have ways to cover up my entrance into this, but now it’s all on your shoulders, man. All you have to do,” he said while pointing out the window towards the ocean, “you just start digging here and go down about six feet and about 75 feet in that direction and there is freedom, and we’re outta here!”

“Oh, I love that! That’s great; I want to be free!”

“Okay, I’ll check back with you in a few weeks.”

Two weeks later, the pops back in to check on his friend’s progress, and his friend nods back with great affirmation. “Yeah, I’ve done it.”

So the man who was providing the instructions pops down the hole, and two seconds later pops right back up and says, “What have you done?!?!?”

“Huh?”

“I told you to dig in the direction towards the OCEAN! This tunnel that you dug goes back under the wall and into the prison yard.”

“Well, the digging was easier in the other direction…”

Reflection Questions:-

• In your life right now,what is one way you are digging in the “easy” direction?
• How might your life be different if you were to dig towards the metaphorical “ocean”?
• What tools or resources would enable you to dig in the direction of the “ocean” more often?

Related articles

• Prisoner Digs Hole in Wall, Gets Stuck While Trying to Escape (neatorama.com)
• Brazilian prisoners enlist trained cat in jailbreak attempt (rawstory.com)

A Rose Without You

With this rose, I not only give you merely a rose, 
but I give you my heart and soul. 
I send to you all the love I have to give,
and anything else that would give me the 
chance to touch your heart.

With this rose, I reveal all my
thoughts and feelings about you
that I have withheld for so long.
I feel when I am with you... I am like a rose, 
not because of it?s beauty, 
but because I am able to bloom and grow with you.

To me you are like a rose's sunshine, 
so full of energy and light, 
that never does it fail to lift my spirits. 
Just by the sound of your voice and that look in your eye.

I could never tear my eyes from you,
you are able to make my life worth living. 
But, without you, just like a rose, 
I would wither and die. 
Not all at once, but little by little, 
petal by petal. Slowly at first, because you have made me 
stronger and stronger each day you're with me.
But eventually, without you, I will lose 
all those beautiful petals you have given me.