Biography: The End of the Rope
The air grew colder as the sun set. It must have been hours since I had entered the maze when the gleam of red from my blindfold faded to black as night fell. My hands were starting to burn from clinging to the rope for so long as I searched for a way out. I felt as though I was no closer to reaching the end then when I started. I tried to keep track of my turns so I wouldn't make the mistake of going back the way I came but I lost track about 100 turns ago. I had felt confident that I would be the first one to find my way out using such a fool proof strategy but I was starting to feel like I might be the last one left. Lost in the twists and turns of the maze.
I continued along the rope as my hope faded. The maze could only be so big. It seemed strange that I hadn't happened upon the end just by chance somehow. Had I not been though the entire thing by now? As I felt the knots slip through my fingers I couldn't help but wonder if I was just going in circles.
From behind me I heard a reassuring voice call out, "Don't get discouraged. You are not alone."
I couldn't quite make out who the voice belonged to but I recognized that it was the same person who had led me to start of the maze. They had been so encouraging at the start. Then, they had told me that they would be there for anything I needed. If I just hollered they would come running. They had been kind but I didn't think much of it at the time. Hearing their voice again after so long was a comfort. It revitalized my spirit and I continued down the rope a little bit quicker with my head lifted a little bit higher.
I continued for a while longer before I reached a dead end and I again grew frustrated. I was beginning to think there was no end. It now seemed like I had been led here to fail. Maybe there was no way out and the person who led me here had intended for me to feel this way. Stuck and defeated.
I felt my eyes begin to water and lump forming in the back of my throat when I heard the voice call out, "Don't give up. I am still here."
"There's no way out is there?" I cried out though my sobs.
"There is one way. But you won't find it holding onto the rope" the voice said.
"How will I know where I am going if I let go of the rope? I can't see." I asked.
"But I can." The voice replied.
We stood in silence for a moment while I considered if I would let go of the rope. I did not doubt that they could help but I thought I might feel more stupid for not having been able to find my way out on my own.
Reluctantly, I quietly pleaded with the voice, "Will you help me?"
Then I heard footsteps as the voice came near and grabbed my hand.
"Let go of the rope. I got you." he said.
I relaxed my grip and slowly followed as he led me away from the rope. After we had gone some distance away from the rope he let go of my hand and told me to wait for just a minute. My fears grew stronger as I heard him step away. I again wondered if I was being set up to fail as I waited alone.
After a few minutes, I heard footsteps approaching, "Hold out your hands," the voice said.
When I did he placed a small piece of wood into my hands. After he did this, he took off my blindfold and my eyes fell upon the wood in my hands. Under the moonlight I saw the words "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you."
I looked over to meet the gaze of the voice who had guided me and finally recognized him as a staff member named Brian. "Why did we do this?" I asked.
"So that hopefully when things get tough and you really need help, you won't be afraid to ask for it."
Author's Note: This story is based off a real activity I did as part of the training process to be a camp counselor when I was in high school. It felt kind of silly to be stuck on a rope maze with a blindfold on at the time and I felt pretty silly asking for help but the lesson really stuck with me. I wasn't really the last one left when I really did it and the ending was actually just three knots in a row on a piece of rope that wasn't attached to the maze but I decided to change the end to make it seem more impactful.
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