Today, a little story for you.
This is a story about a woman who scrambled onto her roof to escape rising flood waters.
She was a woman of strong faith. She was certain that a higher power — God / Earth Mother / the Universe — would save her.
She really, really believed that. So she waited patiently for rescue.
As the waters continued to rise, a neighbour in a dinghy comes by and offers to row her to safety.
The woman on the roof says, “That’s okay, kind neighbour. My higher power is going to save me.”
So, her neighbour rowed off.
Some time later the Coast Guard motors up to the house in their big launch. Shining their floodlights on the woman stranded on the roof, the commander shouts, “Madam, it’s time to leave now. Let us help you, come aboard.”
But the woman on the roof is waiting for her higher power to rescue her. She’s waiting for a sign. So, once again, she refuses the rescue attempt.
She waits.
She hopes.
She wishes.
She waits so long, that the flood waters begin to nip at her ankles. Just as all hope is nearly lost, a helicopter appears overhead. A rescue team is on board, ready, willing and able to bring the woman to safety.
But our dear lady refuses the ride and the helicopter goes off to help someone less committed to staying stuck.
Soon after, the woman realises she waited too long. The waters rise, washing her away, and she drowns.
In heaven, she meets her maker and she’s a wee bit cross. So she takes it out on her higher power.
“Blessed Mother /Lord / Great Spirit – all of my life I’ve been a woman of faith. As the waters rose, I waited patiently for a sign that you were there with me, and you never came.”
To which a booming voice thunders, “Madam, I sent a dinghy, the Coast Guard, and a helicopter. What more did you need?”
Yes, well, you might well laugh…..but isn’t that exactly what we do in life?!
For longer than I care to remember, I sat alone on the roof with my emotional eating and food obsession – stuck, waiting, wishing – waiting for a sign.
With the clarity of hindsight, I now see all the ways I rejected the help that was floating by.
Are you like that, too?
Just so we’re clear sweetheart — I am decidedly not your Higher Power. But I can help you get your mind in the right place so that you can be the shape and size you choose to be.
Why wait? C’mon over – it’s dry, warm and comfortable.
Love etc, Avril
P.S. Please don’t wait. There’s no need to squander any more time sitting, waiting, wondering as the flood waters rise.
