How I Stopped Getting In My Way

949 words | 3 mins 47 secs read time

The monkey trap story has taken on new meaning for me lately. There are many versions of this story, but the gist of it goes like this:

To trap a monkey, hunters put a banana at the bottom of a glass jar. The jar's opening is only slightly bigger than the monkey's hand. So when the monkey sees the canister, he can reach inside and grab the treat easily. But when the monkey tries to pull his hand out, he can't. With the banana in the monkey's grasp, the jar's opening is too small to allow his fist to pass through.

At this point, the monkey has two choices - drop the treat and take his hand out or hold on and remain trapped. In the end, the monkey gives up his freedom to keep holding the banana. Now, the hunters can swoop in and catch their prey.

I've come to realize that I've been that monkey more times than I'd like to admit.…