Moving forward can be exciting, exhilarating, heartfelt, true and authentic. We all know that we evolve, shift and change day by day and playing an active, leading role as we create new pathways and edit old ones is certainly empowering and energising. It is also very easy and familiar to hold on, to hold tight to identities, ways of being, positions, ideas of ourselves and others and things that have served us well in the past. These comfortable security blankets can sometimes blind us from real progress and being alert (but not alarmed :)) to the possibility that refreshment is needed across all aspects of our lives.
I really like the monkey trap tale as a beautifully simple and clear reminder of how holding on isn’t always in our best interests even if we think otherwise…
“There is a common understanding across many cultures that there is a very simple and basic technique to capture a monkey that pretty much anyone could do… All you need to do is hollow out a gourd or coconut, place some sweet fruits or nuts to tempt the monkey. Then, put it in a tree or place it in an area where monkeys hang out. Pretty soon, a monkey will put his hand inside the gourd/coconut to grab the fruits and nuts. However, when the monkey makes a fist to grab the treats, they are trapped, their fist will not fit back through the hole. To evade capture, all the monkey needs to do is let go of the treats, but instead, the monkey will continue to hold on, ultimately resulting in an easy catch-all because they refused to let go!”
Clearly the monkey thinks they are on to a good thing and may not even fully comprehend the situation of what is about to happen. Life can be like that too. I’d like to encourage us all to consider what are you travelling with that no longer really supports who you are becoming?
Love,
Jo x
L E T T E R from Jo – Beware The Monkey Trap
