Thank you Mr.Fulghum for allowing me to share a passage that has helped me so much in my sobriety!!
This passage is h0w my blog got its name. The why is for another blog:
Robert Fulghum “Maybe (Maybe Not)
Story referring to a trip Mr. Fulghum took to Thailand in 1984 with his wife.
He writes:
An acquaintance arranged for us to visit a forest reserve north of Chiang Mai where elephants are still used for all the heavy work of logging. We were to view the operation from elephant back. A shaky ladder was tilted against the side of an elephant. We cautiously climbed up and onto an equally shaky wooden platform strapped to the elephants back. The anxiety of getting on was matched by the anxiety of riding. We were a long way off the ground, and it felt as if we would be catapulted in that direction at any moment by the great lurching march of the beast.
When the ladder was raised again for us to get off, I noticed a small sign attached to the top step.
NOTICE: INSTRUCTIONS FOR DIMOUNTING FROM ELEPHANT.
FIRST, COMPOSE YOUR MIND.
MUCH EASIER TO GET DOWN THAN UP.
In the ensuing years, much of that trip around the world has faded from conscious memory. But indelibly written in the operating instructions for my life is that admonition from the top rung of that ladder in Thailand. The instructions continued concerning holding on with both hands and not poking the elephant. But it was that first line that spoke to me.
Even now, when I am about to make a move of consequence, small or large, a warning light flashes from the control panel in my head: “This is an elephant dismount.” And sometimes, sometimes, I actually manage to compose my mind.
Story referring to a trip Mr. Fulghum took to Thailand in 1984 with his wife.
He writes:
An acquaintance arranged for us to visit a forest reserve north of Chiang Mai where elephants are still used for all the heavy work of logging. We were to view the operation from elephant back. A shaky ladder was tilted against the side of an elephant. We cautiously climbed up and onto an equally shaky wooden platform strapped to the elephants back. The anxiety of getting on was matched by the anxiety of riding. We were a long way off the ground, and it felt as if we would be catapulted in that direction at any moment by the great lurching march of the beast.
When the ladder was raised again for us to get off, I noticed a small sign attached to the top step.
NOTICE: INSTRUCTIONS FOR DIMOUNTING FROM ELEPHANT.
FIRST, COMPOSE YOUR MIND.
MUCH EASIER TO GET DOWN THAN UP.
In the ensuing years, much of that trip around the world has faded from conscious memory. But indelibly written in the operating instructions for my life is that admonition from the top rung of that ladder in Thailand. The instructions continued concerning holding on with both hands and not poking the elephant. But it was that first line that spoke to me.
Even now, when I am about to make a move of consequence, small or large, a warning light flashes from the control panel in my head: “This is an elephant dismount.” And sometimes, sometimes, I actually manage to compose my mind.
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