The White Elephant (powerful)

[BusynMember]

Wow. I got this from a book I was reading called White Elephant by Chynna T. Laird.

"The story goes that a White Elephant is a precious life but very difficult to care for. It seems like the bigger it gets the more difficult it is to care for. And that White Elephant seems to know not only that it is precious, but also that everyone will care for it no matter what it stomps on, bumps into, knocks over or hurts--including those who care for it. If allowed to, caring for it becomes all-consuming until there's nothing left. You need to teach that elephant to care for itself before she crushes you."

By the way, this book was just awesome...a memoir about a young lady growing up with a mother who was an alcoholic with bipolar, but so much more than that and written so well.

 

[Scent of Cedar *]

Thanks, MWM. I love the imagery of the elephant being precious but difficult to care for, and of the necessity of teaching it to care for itself before it gets too big and crushes us ~ almost without meaning to.

It's just the enormous size of the thing, of the beautiful white elephant.

Cedar

 

[in a daze]

. If allowed to, caring for it becomes all-consuming until there's nothing left. You need to teach that elephant to care for itself before she crushes you."

Such a good metaphor on our relationship with our difficult children!

 

[HeadlightsMom]

Powerful, indeed!