Sunday, October 2, 2011

There's An Elephant In The Room!

There's an elephant in the room. Everyone pretends not to see it. Sitting among the delicate furnishings, taking up lots of space, we all ignore the huge elephant in the room. It seems to get larger and larger as we all avoid confrontation.

Everyone knows the elephant. And yet they don't know how to approach the elephant. It seems that the elephant has taken control of everything and everyone in the room. Sitting there comfortably surveying the behavior of all around him, the elephant just grows and grows until there is barely enough room for anyone else.

The room gets very uncomfortable. Everyone wants to do something to make it better, but doesn't quite know how to approach the elephant. What if I try to slowly walk up to the elephant and talk calmly to him. Will he attack me? One brave soul decides to confront the elephant in the room. Trying desperately to be as careful as they can, the person approaches the elephant with caution and confronts the situation. But the elephant attacks! Viciously roaring and stomping, the elephant does not like what the person has to say. It does not matter what is said, you can not reason with the elephant. The elephant will have the last word and eat you alive.

How did the elephant get that way you ask? Probably because as a baby elephant, he was cute and adorable.But when he wanted his way, he would make loud noises and stomp around until he got his way. And sometimes, even though his mommy knew it was wrong, it was just easier to give him his way than to see how vicious and mean he might become. Sometimes it was just less embarrassing to let the elephant have his way and get it over with.

But the mommy though always loving and caring for the elephant, did herself no favors by allowing the baby elephant his way. He just grew up always forcing those around him to step on eggshells to get away from the wrath of the elephant in the room.

Now the elephant has grown so large he no longer fits in the room.
Everyone is avoiding him, and no one wants to come near him for fear that he will lash out at them and hurt them.

And yet, the elephant is very sad. He wants to communicate, he just doesn't know how anymore. The years and years of throwing his weight around have caused him to be avoided and feared. And the one who suffers the most in the room is the elephant.

No comments: