There was once a man who lived in a house built on wooden stilts surrounded by water. This man lived here for many years and loved it. The stilts kept him safe from all the pain he hid in the basement.
One day, the owner noticed the stilts were becoming more of a liability than a utility, so he decided to cut them off.
But what would he put in place? Those crooked stilts were all that he knew, and he was terrified at the idea of letting them go.
Then he realized, “I will create a floating house to travel to where ever I desire! I will have so many adventures!”.
But he hesitated.
He decided, “eh, I’ll just cut this one stilt over the next three months so it doesn’t just drop down immediately”.
It worked.
As he started to get momentum to start the next, he was overly complacent and procrastinated on the second stilt’s removal. He told his friends vaguely about his new exciting goal, but refused any of their help even though a couple of them have gone through the same thing.
Three months passed.
Over time, he started noticing the danger of letting the other stilts remain, because what if he gives up on his ultimate goal to float around the world. He knew that going back to living on a full set of stilts would be something he can get used to again.
Immediately he went to work on the second stilt, removing it in only two months!
Although proud, he was immensely sad, because living with stilts was all that he knew…And it’s finally coming to an end. He mourned by crying several times because his old self was dying.
Of course, he procrastinated again, because he wanted to enjoy the third and fourth stilt. One month later, he said “Ah, nobody will notice if I use temporary stilts again”…But he started losing focus again and felt guilt, so over the next two months he removed all three of them.
When it came time for him to float the house and remove the last stilt: It was terrifying, water was engulfing his house and without even letting the house float property through the system he prepared, he went to support the house all by himself.
His friends noticed him struggling, and instead of refusing help this time: He said “Hmm, you know what guys, I have tried this on my own many times, why don’t you come throw in your experience?”.
They helped. And since it was his OWN idea to get help, he felt a bitter sweet joy. Particularly because now he had the courage to bring in all of his friends to put it to rest. On top of that, he even setup intentional walls to help him avoid going after the stilts again.
Now he’s floating.
The water is around the house.
But he has a serious support system now. Much more than man-made. Much more than ego-made.
Love made.
This article was made to define an addiction I have ended over the past year.
As with many addictions, it was easy to hide. And it is even harder to hide when your brain fools you with this question:
“Hey, it’s not hurting anyone.”
But you know the reality is it can, will, or does.
The marker of an addiction can be found with one simple question: How would YOU react if YOU gave it up?
And I emphasize you, because others can only help when you are ready.
It was not until I started pulling back the layers of the onion that I started to see how much I am taking from others. And I was lucky to have powerful friends that used love instead of shame to face it.
Listen, you have the power to focus superbowl-sized goals into fruition. In fact, I know you have done it before. You have accomplished things that no person expected of you. You have survived many struggles that no one expected you to bulldoze through.
What stilt is holding you back from more?
Ivan