There’s a Hole in my Sidewalk

Chapter 1.

I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I fall in.
I am lost…
I am helpless.
It isn’t my fault.
It takes forever to find a way out.

Chapter 2.

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend I don’t see it.
I fall in again.
I cant believe I am in this same place.
But it isn’t my fault.
It still takes a long time to get out.

Chapter 3.

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it is there.
I still fall in… its a habit.
But, my eyes are open.
I know where I am.
It is my fault.
I get out immediately.

Chapter 4.

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.

Chapter 5.

I walk down another street.

Copyright 1993, Portia Nelson from the book, There’s a Hole in My Sidewalk, Beyond Words Publishing, Hillsboro, Oregon. Autobiography in Five Short Chapters.




Evaluation by Skai Chan

Chapter 1.

I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I fall in.
I am lost…
I am helpless.
It isn’t my fault.
It takes forever to find a way out.

The author describes an inexperienced person making a mistake. He feels lost and helpless. He starts to blame on others and he never has a good mentally to get out of the problem by himself.

Chapter 2.

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend I don’t see it.
I fall in again.
I cant believe I am in this same place.
But it isn’t my fault.
It still takes a long time to get out.

The person faces the same problem again. He pretends unaware about it and thus he makes the same mistake again. He does not want to admit it is his own mistake but this time, he eventually manages to get out of the problem, after a long time though.

Chapter 3.

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it is there.
I still fall in… its a habit.
But, my eyes are open.
I know where I am.
It is my fault.
I get out immediately.

The person faces the same situation for the third time. He sees the problem but he still makes the same mistake because it has been a routine, which he does not make effort to make a difference. He, however, has learnt to tackle the problem with a better vision in his heart. He knows well he is at fault and get over it immediately.

Chapter 4.

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.

The person faces the same situation again but he bypasses the problem.

Chapter 5.

I walk down another street.

Finally, he has learnt to avoid the situation for a better journey.