Once upon a time.....
A man set out to hike along a section of the Heysen Trail in the Adelaide Hills. Just after 9am on his first day out, he felt a pain in his left foot. Despite his high-sided hiking boots and lambswool bushwalking socks -- the best and most expensive that Ray's Outdoors had on offer, a stone had somehow found its way inside and lodged just under his left ankle. The more he walked, the more the stone irritated him.
By 10 am, he was getting little discouraged. He rang his loving family on his brand new GPS satellite phone. "I have this pain in my left foot, and it's getting worse," he said. His wife and children were most sympathetic, but knowing how long he had dreamed of, planned and trained for this hike, they urged him on with words of encouragement and hope. "This is what you want. This is your dream. You can do it! We're here for you". He kept going, his spirits a little lifted.
But the pain did not abate for long. The skin started to chafe and blister under his socks. Around noon he limped into a doctor's office in Lyndoch. He described his symptoms to the nurse, who rang his GP back in Dulwich. They reviewed his medical history looking for some clue from his past that might explain his present pain. There had been times when he had experienced acute pain but, since the man had never done anything like this before, there was nothing much in his history that gave a clue to his present predicament. The man thanked the doctor, got some painkillers from the chemist, and limped on his way.
He decided to do some Research. He found a shady spot in the park opposite Kauffman Avenue, pulled out his trusty Blueberrry ThinkPad and Googled "shoes", "hiking", "pain", and even "rocks". He found lots of information about everything, but nothing that eased his pain.
In desperation he hobbled over to a church and located the pastor. He confided his tale of woe and despair, and begged the holy man for a reason Why he should be suffering so. The priest gave him 20 minutes of his knowledge of the scriptures, and what the seminary had taught him about the sanctity of Human Suffering. Together they prayed for the man's deliverance from his agony, and the two parted -- the priest satisfied that he had set yet another soul on the Right Path, and the hiker still in pain.
The man had just reached the edge of town when he met a fellow hiker walking in the opposite direction. The other hiker noticed how badly the man was limping. "What happened to you?" he enquired kindly. "I am in such pain," the man sighed. "I have this stone in my boot and the pain just won't go away. Now my ankle is blistered and bleeding and, as you can see, I can hardly take another step!"
"Come over here," said the stranger. "Here, sit on this stump. Take your boot and sock off." "Oh, my God, no!" protested the hiker. "These are protecting me and my feet." "Nah, you'll be alright for a minute or two," reassured the stranger. "Let's get them off and we'll get rid of the stone that's crippling you."
The hurting hiker was hesitant. How could it be that simple?
He removed his protective boots and his comforting socks, and released the offending stone. The pain ceased.
Now, I know that your pain is far more complex than a stone in your shoe. It could not possibly be that simple.
Could it?
If you think this story is ridiculously absurd, take up crisis counselling for a while.
When I was quite young I heard a recording of the great American actor, Walter Brennan, doing a hillbilly song called "Life Gets Teejus, Don't It?" One verse goes like this ----
Houn'dawg howlin' all forlorn
Laziest dawg that ever wuz born.
He's a-howlin'ços he's settin'on a thorn,
And he's too durn lazy t'git off it.
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