As I walked through the quiet village, I came across an older house with a large wooden veranda. An old woman was sitting in a rocking chair, reading a newspaper and sipping a cup of coffee.
Next to the wise looking old lady was her dog, whimpering and whining.
I couldn’t help but go over and ask, “What’s wrong with your dog…is he ill?”
The old woman said, “Oh no….He’s lying on a nail.”
“Lying on a nail? Well, why doesn’t he get up or move to a better place?”
With a twinkle in her eye the old woman replied, “Well, it doesn’t hurt bad enough.“
So what are the nails you’re lying on right now?
Each of us has different nails poking us. Some of us have a few big nails that poke us every now and then. Some of us have several small nails that poke us from time to time. Some of us have multiple big and small nails that poke repeatedly. Most of the time, instead of doing something about it, we just sit and howl. Because the nails aren’t painful enough.
Are there any nails in your life that you are not addressing?
Why not? Is it because they are not yet painful enough?
What are you going to do about them?
Are you going to act immediately or wait until it’s too late?
Take some time to identify whether the thing you’re complaining about – internally or to others – is something you really want to act on, or something you know you’re not going to act on (in which case stop complaining and let go!).
There’s nothing wrong with letting go, with accepting the reality that this is something you’re not going to change. But if you’re not going to let go, then do something about it.
Don’t wait until your nails are really hurting before you do something about it. Because when that happens, it usually means it’s too late to do anything about it.
There are two reasons why people make changes in their lives: inspiration and desperation. In the end, what really matters is not what has happened to you, but what you are prepared to do about it. Are you going to moan, groan and complain, shrinking into fear, or are you going to wake up, get up and tap into the seeds of greatness and possibility within you?
To have something you’ve never had, you must be willing to do something you’ve never done.
anon
Additionally, people fear change. People also fear failure. Many people are unhappy with their lot in life, but they will not step out of their comfort zone and change. Why is that? Because the pain doesn’t hurt bad enough. The pain of change is greater than the pain of staying the same.
It’s only when people get sick and tired of being sick and tired and make the decision that they will do whatever it takes that they will change and do what they need to do.