Aint no cheese...

As I am stepping into this new adventure, I am reminded of another story I heard a few years ago....Clearly my current situation represents this metaphor...

So for years, scientists have been testing mice and one of the tests is to put a mouse in a maze with cheese at the end in a hole that is the reward for the effort.

What happens is there is cheese put in one end and the mouse put in the other of the maze...The mouse goes through the maze to find the cheese and immediately the mouse remembers the path....Every time you put the mouse in the hole, he will work his way through the maze to find the cheese.

Then you take the cheese from the hole and place it in another portion of the maze and set the mouse in the maze... The mouse will take the same path back to where he knows the cheese in and finds no cheese...Take the mouse out, he will try the same path again....take him out again and set him back and he might try another time....finding no cheese in the hole.

So, you set the mouse in a third or fourth time and this time he tries a different route to locate the cheese...He makes a different effort to find the cheese, realizing there is no cheese in the old hole...

Now many times mice mirror humans but in this exercise they are different...

Humans, we will find our way through the maze and get the cheese, but take the cheese away and put it in another spot and humans will go back time and time again, the same route, expecting to find the cheese...OVER and OVER again....

Hence, we get a reward once or twice for our efforts, we think that a continuation of this path will eventually get us the cheese again, and it never does... So, there is a saying many people have heard when it comes to efforts that don't get them the reward anymore....

THERE AIN'T NO CHEESE IN THAT HOLE!!!

After hearing this story the first time, I have constantly reminded myself of this story...

Based on my efforts for the last year or two, I have been taking the same route, over and over and have not found the cheese for a very long time...

I guess with this last shift in my life, I have finally found that the efforts I used before to get the cheese is not producing the reward....But me, being human, have gone back and back again.... I guess I have now realized, THERE AIN'T NO CHEESE IN THAT HOLE so this is a big part of why I am taking a new path...

I don't know the route through the maze and am sure I will hit some dead ends here and there, but I know the cheese is there, I just have to find the route to get it....

So here I am, back in a new maze, trying to find the cheese... The good thing is that I am finding more openings than walls....Even though running into those walls is painful....Separating from Donna, leaving my comfort zone, uprooting where I feel safe and comfortable, but I have to remember, the cheese is there...Its really is....But I have finally come to the realization, the old path, there just ain't no cheese there!

So, here I am, in a new maze, in unknown territory and I can smell the cheese....Now its just finding my way through the obstacles to get to it.... Like the mouse, I know I will find it and even with the uncomfortable trials to find it, I am coming up to more openings than dead ends....Its a bitter sweet experience, but I am on the hunt for the cheese.... I am confident that when I find it, it will taste, smell and feel different, but at least I am on the new path and not trying to go back to what I know doesn't work...

Ahhh, life, its funny how it works, but I have to realize that my life up to this point has lead me through many mazes....They have always been scary and unsure, but once I find the cheese, oh how sweet it is!!

Just thought I would share this as it has been an old lesson that has come back to life for me...

Just remember, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting different results... I am not, and have not been getting different results so its time to do something different....No matter what, I am assured a different and amazing result...

Thanks for all of you tolerating me without my big girl panties and so you know, I am putting them back on and getting back in the game... I surely do appreciate all your support and encouragement... Its high time I get my groove back and I have always "kicked ass" when I take on new things... I am READY to be kicking ass again...I have grown tired of getting my ass kicked!!

I hope I have not tired you all with my negativity, but I honestly feel like I am back on the path to something great and am excited to see what unfolds!

I am blessed to have a wonderful woman as my partner in this and even in the most uncomfortable part of all of this, she believes in me....I am blessed!!

Peace.....Brad