Winter has been tough all over the country, even here where I live in Tennessee. We had ice, a ton of snow, and finally 4 days of rain. The ground is pretty saturated. Last Friday I loaded up a bunch of building materials and trash from our bathroom renovation and prepared to haul them off to the dump. I pulled my truck up to the barn and then made a big circle in the front part of our pasture and got stuck in the mud.
Having already been stuck once like this a few weeks ago in the ice, I backed up and looked for some flat ground to get traction. That got me stuck again. Finally, in a moment of desperation, I backed the truck down the pasture and up the other side to get some momentum. I almost made it before getting stuck again. I should have stopped there but figured I’d try one more time. This time, I got stuck in the middle of the pasture. With the wheels going nowhere, I tried to spin and rock my way out. With the truck now sinking in the mud, I wisely decided to stop and find someone to pull me out with a 4×4.
Have you ever found yourself in a tough position and tried different ways out which only make it worse? If so, then you (and I) have violated what’s known as the First Rule of Holes, which states:
“if you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.”
None of us likes encountering obstacles. Even more, we hate having to ask for help. We’ll tackle the problem and when we come up short, rather than find someone to assist us, we’ll try something else. That solution makes it worse and then desperation sets in. Desperate people do dumb things and before we know it, we’ve created a disaster. Some of us are smart enough to stop there, but most of us keep digging until the situation is beyond repair. Finally, at that stage we reach out for help. Unfortunately by then the fix is expensive, drastic, or sometimes non-existent.
You’ve seen it before I’m sure:
- Someone who is severely overweight tries to lose the weight on their own. After years of yo-yo dieting, they end up weighing so much they’re bedridden and have to be admitted to a hospital for radical surgery (see shows like My 600-LB Life for this common story).
- A couple that’s in debt continues to spend and then takes out credit cards to pay off other credit cards. This, combined with Payday loans, home equity loans, and even pawning off stuff puts them in so much debt that they declare bankruptcy or simply lose everything.
- A person tells a white lie and then spins off other lies to cover that one. Before they know it, they’ve created an entire persona of falsehood, which will cause the whole thing to blow up, unless they can tell one more lie.
All of us will encounter problems. It’s important to know that dealing with it early and rationally is a better solution than working it in ignorance and letting it get bigger. This week, take a look at what you’re wrestling with. If you’re truly in a hole, stop now and look for that 4×4 to dig you out before you get in any deeper. I’m hoping to get my truck back on dry ground today. What are you prepared to do?
