The snake and the rope

In a book that I recently read there was a great parable that went something like this….

“A man walks at night along a path. He sees a poisonous snake blocking his way and turns and runs in the opposite direction. The next morning he’s walking down the same path and notices a rope, coiled up, in the shape of a snake. He then realized that in the darkness of night he had mistaken a harmless rope, for a deadly snake.”

To me, this parable can have so many lessons…

Light vs. darkness

Seeing vs. believing

Enlightened vs. Unenlightened

I’ll let you sit with your thoughts and see what it means to you.

It couldn’t be a better metaphor for speaking and the fear it invokes.

Many folks, (not you, of course, dear reader) see speaking as the snake. Something that could somehow in someway hurt them. It completely paralyzes them as if, they just crossed paths with a King Cobra.

In the darkness, many things appear to be very different than they are in reality. That’s why strip clubs have dark lighting (so, I’ve heard).

Without going all foo foo on you, I guess you could call the people who understand this idea (like you), enlighten speakers. You have the ability to see it for what it is. You see it as a rope and understand all the ways you can use to your advantage?

Did you know there’s a place where other Enlightened Speakers hang out?

Come hither to the gates of wisdom
http://www.chirospeakingclub.com

Onward and upward,

Jeff Paro
Co-founder
The Chiro Speaking Co.