CHINESE FINGER TRAPS AND LIFE

This blog is sent out to anyone who is interested but especially to Bill who said to me at a recent party where I was engaged in trying to extricate myself from a Chinese finger trap,"I bet that will be in your next blog." With a comment like that I just had to comply.

As I sat gazing at the finger trap attached to my two pointer fingers I tried to pull them apart. Of course the trap resisted. I was "trapped" and I couldn't get free unless I relaxed the tension of my fingers that were pulling in opposite directions or unless I pulled hard enough to tear the paper finger trap apart. Relaxing was easier than tearing apart.


Now comes the part triggered by Bill's comment. Too often I think we find ourselves pulling in opposite directions:
   Children vs. Parents
   Spiritual vs. Temporal
   Spouse vs. Spouse
   Happiness vs. Sadness
   Friend vs. Friend
   Openness vs. Reticence
   Optimism vs. Pessimism
   Self vs. Work, Government, Life

No matter how hard we pull we can't seem to resolve the issues that separate us and others or that cause tensions in our lives. We are trapped by behavior we feel we can't change. The result is constant stress, possible illness, and unhappiness that can lead to the destruction of relationships or the descent into clinical depression. To grow in this life we need opposition in order to allow us to overcome and find success, but unnecessary opposition we create on our own can be destructive.

My solution? Stop taking everything so seriously; loosen up; don't worry. Everything will be all right.
Release the tension and pull your fingers out of the trap.