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A Fable About Hanging On and Hanging On...

THE BRIDGE - A METAPHOR

"The Bridge"

There was a man who had given much thought to what he wanted from life. He had experienced many moods and trials. He had experimented with different ways of living, and he had had his share of both success and failure. At last, he began to see clearly where he wanted to go.

Diligently, he searched for the right opportunity. Sometimes he
came close, only to be pushed away. Often he applied all his
strength and imagination, only to find the path hopelessly
blocked. And then at last it came. But the opportunity would not
wait. It would be made available only for a short time. If it were seen that he was not committed, the opportunity would not come again.

Eager to arrive, he started on his journey. With each step, he
wanted to move faster; with each thought about his goal, his
heart beat quicker; with each vision of what lay ahead, he found
renewed vigor. Strength that had left him since his early youth
returned, and desires, all kinds of desires, reawakened from
their long-dormant positions.

Hurrying along, he came upon a bridge that crossed through the middle of a town. It had been built high above a river in order to protect it from the floods of spring.

He started across. Then he noticed someone coming from the
opposite direction. As they moved closer, it seemed as though
the other was coming to greet him. He could see clearly,
however, that he did not know this other, who was dressed
similarly except for something tied around his waist.

When they were within hailing distance, he could see that what
the other had about his waist was a rope. It was wrapped around him many times and probably, if extended, would reach a length of 30 feet.

The other began to uncurl the rope, and, just as they were
coming close, the stranger said, "Pardon me, would you be so
kind as to hold the end a moment?"

Surprised by this politely phrased but curious request, he
agreed without a thought, reached out, and took it.

"Thank you," said the other, who then added, "two hands now, and remember, hold tight." Whereupon, the other jumped off the bridge.

Quickly, the free-falling body hurtled the distance of the ropes
length, and from the bridge the man abruptly felt the pull.
Instinctively, he held tight and was almost dragged over the
side. He managed to brace himself against the edge, however, and after having caught his breath, looked down at the other
dangling, close to oblivion.

"What are you trying to do?" he yelled.

"Just hold tight," said the other.

"This is ridiculous," the man thought and began trying to haul
the other in. He could not get the leverage, however. It was as
though the weight of the other person and the length of the rope had been carefully calculated in advance so that together they created a counterweight just beyond his strength to bring the other back to safety.

"Why did you do this?" the man called out.

"Remember," said the other, "if you let go, I will be lost."

"But I cannot pull you up," the man cried.

"I am your responsibility," said the other.

"Well, I did not ask for it," the man said.

"If you let go, I am lost," repeated the other.

He began to look around for help. But there was no one. How
long would he have to wait? Why did this happen to befall him
now, just as he was on the verge of true success? He examined
the side, searching for a place to tie the rope. Some protrusion, perhaps, or maybe a hole in the boards. But the railing was unusually uniform in shape; there were no spaces between the boards. There was no way to get rid of this newfound burden, even temporarily.

"What do you want?" he asked the other hanging below.

"Just your help," the other answered.

"How can I help? I cannot pull you in, and there is no place to
tie the rope so that I can go and find someone to help me help you."

"I know that. Just hang on; that will be enough. Tie the rope
around your waist; it will be easier."

Fearing that his arms could not hold out much longer, he tied
the rope around his waist.

"Why did you do this?" he asked again. "Don't you see what you
have done? What possible purpose could you have had in mind?"

"Just remember," said the other, "my life is in your hands."

What should he do? "If I let go, all my life I will know that I
let this other die. If I stay, I risk losing my momentum toward
my own long-sought-after salvation. Either way this will haunt
me forever."

With ironic humor he thought to die himself, instantly, to jump
off the bridge while still holding on. "That would teach this
fool." But he wanted to live and to live life fully. "What a
choice I have to make; how shall I ever decide?"

As time went by, still no one came. The critical moment of
decision was drawing near. To show his commitment to his own goals, he would have to continue on his journey now. It was already almost too late to arrive in time. But what a terrible
choice to have to make.

A new thought occurred to him. While he could not pull this
other up solely by his own efforts, if the other would shorten
the rope from his end by curling it around his waist again and
again, together they could do it. Actually, the other could do
it by himself, so long as he, standing on the bridge, kept it
still and steady.

"Now listen," he shouted down. "I think I know how to save you."
And he explained his plan.

But the other wasn't interested.

"You mean you won't help? But I told you I cannot pull you up by
myself, and I don't think I can hang on much longer either."

"You must try," the other shouted back in tears. "If you fail, I
die."

The point of decision arrived. What should he do? "My life or
this other's?" And then a new idea. A revelation. So new, in
fact, it seemed heretical, so alien was it to his traditional
way of thinking.

"I want you to listen to me carefully," he said, "because I mean
what I am about to say. I will not accept the position of choice
for your life, only for my own; the position of choice for your
own life I hereby give back to you."

"What do you mean?" the other asked, afraid.

"I mean, simply, it's up to you. You decide which way this ends.
I will become the counterweight. You do the pulling and bring
yourself up. I will even tug a little from here." He began
unwinding the rope from around his waist and braced himself anew against the side.

"You cannot mean what you say," the other shrieked. "You would not be so selfish. I am your responsibility. What could be so important that you would let someone die? Do not do this to me."

He waited a moment. There was no change in the tension of the rope.

"I accept your choice," he said, at last, and freed his hands.

#From "FRIEDMAN'S FABLES" by Edwin Friedman~

Red5

UH oh...this may be a hijack.  Standby for FF parenting story.

When my oldest (boy) was say 7 or 8 years old he had a good run of tree climbing.  I encouraged it since he could be a bit reserved and perhaps "timid".

Anway, one day I look up and I'm a bit shocked at how high he has gone (and a bit impressed).  About the same time he looks down and freaks a bit.  I can tell he is genuinely scared.

On cue my wife leans out the door an hollers to me and the kids that lunch is ready.  My son in the tree asks me to get a ladder.

I gather the other kids and start heading inside.  I told my son in the tree I was proud of him and since he had the skills to go up without a ladder, surely he could come down.  I also mentioned that lunch smelled especially yummy.

About 20 minutes later a sweaty boy comes inside, rather put out with me that I didn't "save" him.  I acted befuddled and asked if he needed to be saved.  He tried to stick with being scared and all that and I stuck with "did you need my help"?

Eventually he calmed and got the point.  Plus he was a much more "confident" kid after that, even though (to my knowledge) he never climbed that high again.

I would tie the rope off and head on my journey.  |iiii

Best,

FF

Hi Red-
I love, love, love this fable... except the “lesson” of it feels all too real sometimes, doesn’t it?

We cannot save people from their dangerous choices; and our battle is to recognize when to stop trying.  I just thank GOD not all of those choices are life-changing, life-ending... but so many “feel” like it.  I think there’s more to this story than meets the eye.

Yea, Red... the battle is to know when to stop trying... and say “I’m sorry, my love, I cannot save you from you.”

Thank you for posting it.

Warmly,
Gems

Hi Red,

This is great.  Thank you for sharing.  I'm still hanging onto that rope...bt I am getting closer to letting it go.

((HUGS)

SH4

Hello SH4!

#me2~>… still hanging on to that damned old rope, hoping, waiting, and praying…

Its good to hear from you, I'm following your thread over on the bettering board, I've passed through the valley of anger myself a few times over the past (almost) year now.

...try not to let the "anger" get the best of you, maybe redefine it as "introspection"… as that's not healthy for you emotionally, mentally to keep anger in your heart, and also to let it stay rent free in your brain housing group… one of my "fav's" I follow on YouTube says all the time, "holding onto anger, is like holding two hot coals in your hands, that you think you might want to throw at someone whos hurt you, but all you are doing is burning your own two hands"… right now, instead of anger, I hang out in my "learning place", instead of my "anger place"… or as yet another "fav" YouTuber calls it… "your place of anger"… try and stay out of that "woodshed"!

Best to continue to learn, and study, so that you can better understand the "psychosis" of their disorder(s), and also to reverse engineer how we have wrongly, and destructively reacted to their behaviors… what is that we hear at nauseum… "didn't break them, can't fix them, can't control them"…

I know its tough, I'm right there with you on this path… and right now it looks like one of those treacherous mountain passes, paths up in the Andes mountains we see on the National Geographic Travelers channel… only mountain goats, and crazy people should be on this path right   :(…

(https://news.southamerica.travel/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/most-dangerous-roads-in-south-america.jpg)

I miss my wife too, it hurts a lot some daze, and others its just numb…

Remember that knowledge is strength, and this strength is personal power, and it provides the will to live everyday…

You hang in there!, and thanks for stopping by   *)

Red5

Looks like a gorgeous path.

I "white-knuckler" !