Shoveling dirt.

Sometimes I feel like I am at the bottom of a really big hole. There’s a lot of room in the hole but there’s also a lot of dirt being shoveled into the hole. I try to keep up with the loads of the dirt, packing it here and there, processing the dirt so to speak. But I can’t. Eventually the dirt gets overwhelming and I start to get buried. I wonder, why don’t the people shoveling the dirt just stop shoveling it? Can’t they see I’m drowning in it?

Then sometimes, I feel like I am at the top of a big hole and I have to shovel a huge pile of dirt into it. People are depending on me to move this dirt or it’s my job to move it or it’s a requirement to get to something else. But man, it’s a really big pile and feels overwhelming. So I start blindly shoveling away, oblivious to what might be going on inside the hole. Can’t everyone see I’ve got a huge pile of dirt to move? I don’t have time to look at what’s going on inside the hole. I just need to move the dirt.

I’m in the hole. And I’m slowly getting buried. But I still don’t ask the person shoveling the dirt into the hole to stop. I’m scared they might laugh at me or make fun of me or be mean. I just keep doing what I’m doing, getting a little more buried. I don’t ask for help.

I’m at the top of the hole shoveling dirt into it. The pile gets smaller. But I’m completely unaware of the impact I’m having on the person in the hole. Perhaps, I don’t even know there’s a person in there. I have a job to do and I’m doing it. I don’t take the time to look around.

If I were my own best friend I would tell myself to do better. Be better. Ask for help. Stop and look.

Yes, it might be scary to ask for help, but isn’t that better than getting buried in a hole? Have you ever been in the hole?

Yes, it might take time and mean I have to slow down or shovel my dirt differently, but isn’t that better than burying someone in a hole? Have you ever accidentally buried someone without knowing it?

We can all be brave and ask for help. It might be the bravest thing we do all day. We can all slow down and look around at where we are shoveling dirt and how it affects other people. I’m not saying any of this easy. What I am saying is, we can do it.