Some farmyard animals will return to a burning barn during a fire. As counterintuitive as that may sound, it’s true. Imagine that: running into a fire. Why in the world would the animals do that? Probably for the same reason we all run into our own proverbial burning barns: it’s what we know.
Consider the times that we have repeated mistakes despite our being well aware that what we were doing would most likely lead to a negative outcome. Obviously if we are reading this, we have only ever been burned (not killed) by the fires we returned to; but at some point, if we continue to run back into the blaze, it might be disastrous: maybe fatal in regard to a relationship, maybe literally fatal.
Sometimes it takes a lot to change. When things get bad enough, however – maybe when our psychological barns are on fire – we can be forced to take a new path; and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Whereas new paths can of course be scary, they can also offer us opportunities to let go of what we are, so that we can become what we might be.
Instead of running into your proverbial burning barn the next time a personal crisis emerges, consider running in a new direction. After all, the colloquial definition of insanity is “doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting a different result.” You know what running into your personal burning barn will do for you – so find the courage to forge a new path….
